We are Family
by melbo18
Summary: Leah is Rick's little sister who is battling a recent heartbreak... to help cheer her up, the O'Connell family embarks on a trip to Egypt and runs into some interesting situations. UPDATE: Chapter 13 is now up! Come on in and check it out!
1. Lonely

Well here is my first try at any type of fan fiction.  I have had this story half written for a while now and have decided to post it to see what you all think of it.  Feel free to leave a review if you like it, and if you don't, please tell me, but no flames please!  Sorry if it is Mary-Sueish, I have this thing for taking the hero of a story and writing about his or her kid sister.  Sorry if it is boring, but it will get better, I just have to give you all of the background information.  Enough of my ramblings… on with the show!

Wait one more thing… DISCLAIMER: I do not own _The Mummy_ or any of the characters, I own only Leah and a beat-up 1993 Chevy Cavalier worth about $2.

Now here's the story…

Chapter 1  Lonely

Leah awoke with a start, jerking her head off the desk.  Looking around at the room now lit only by light streaming into the windows from the streetlamps, she sighed.  Then she closed the books in front of her and stood up.  She pulled her warm coat off its hook behind her and slipped it on, wishing she had not fallen asleep and let the fire go out, as now it was too cold in the office to continue working.  She buttoned herself in, donned her heavy down gloves, gathered her books, and started for the door.  She locked it behind her and walked down the narrow corridor, toward the exit of the building.

            She reached into her coat pocket as she walked.  Her hand brushed against a piece of folded paper in the crevice of her jacket.  She pulled it out and unfolded it, the reality of the letter bringing tears to her eyes.

            Although American by birth, Leah preferred the classic and eccentric feeling of England, as it all seemed much simpler than the hubbub of New York City.  Leah loved her current home.  Here in Britain, Leah had her own small apartment that she furnished carefully with her own tastes.  Here in Britain, she was less than three miles from her brother and his wife and son, her only family left on this earth.  Here in Britain, Leah had a good, steady job at the British Museum, which now served as a wonderful diversion from the problem that had become her life.

            The letter she was now holding should have been the best thing that had ever happened to her.  Instead, it just caused a large wave of sadness to wash over her.  Her acceptance letter to the University of Cairo was something she had wanted for over a year.  It was supposed to be the beginning of the rest of her life; she would pursue her degree, while at the same time soaking up the culture and excitement of Egypt.  And while she was doing all of this, she would be making lifelong friends and planning her career in architecture.  A man's profession, she knew, but she had been determined to make it hers, too.  But now this was all just a dream.  Actually, a nightmare.  Her hopes had been dashed by one cruel person.  Andrew Hawkins had been the love of her life.  The English man had been the fabric of her being for the last nine months, until now.

            Leah slipped out of the exit of the building, groaning as she realized that it had begun to rain.  As she started the mile trek to her apartment, the rain began to turn to freezing rain, meshing with the tears streaming down Leah's face and making frozen rivulets over her freckles.

            She and Andrew had met through Leah's job at the museum.  Andrew was a frequent visitor, as he was earning his master's degree in ancient Egyptian history at Oxford and loved the rare artifacts the curator collected.  As he was examining the exhibits one rainy Tuesday, Leah happened to be running through on her way to deliver some mail to her boss.  She collided with him, giving him a golf ball sized bump on his shin.  He hadn't seemed to care about the bump; instead, he was mesmorized by the short and trim curly-haired redheaded creature in front of him.

            Now, a sudden flash of headlights behind Leah made her gasp and turn around.  A car went zooming by her, nearly driving on the sidewalk and coming within inches of hitting her.

            "Damn drunks," she muttered as she continued to walk.  Her thoughts turned back to Andrew again.

            Although he had been nine years Leah's elder, the two had fallen in love quickly—or so Leah had thought.  Andrew proposed only four months after they'd first met.  Leah had always known that she wanted to go to college; at the age of nineteen, she felt that she was in her prime of academic performance, but she did not want to leave her Andrew behind.  The solution to the problem was Andrew's idea: they would both apply for admission at the University of Cairo, where she could earn her bachelor's degree in architecture and Andrew could go on to earn his doctorate.  Eagerly, Leah sent her application.  The two began to plan their wedding and their lives together.  That was, until Leah found out about Andrew's other girlfriend.  It was all over in a nanosecond.  And then, not even one week after the fiasco, Leah received the letter that brought her broken dreams to the surface all over again.

            The letter had arrived this morning.  She and Andrew had now been over for just three days.  Ever since the break up, Leah had spent her time immersed in a book in her office at the British Museum from the wee hours of the morning to late at night.  She would only leave to spend the night over at Patty's house, stuffing her face with chocolate and listening to her friend snore while she herself laid awake.  She couldn't face her apartment—it held too many memories of the could-have-been that would never be.  Now, on this particular night, her body had finally given in and allowed her to slip unconscious over her work, giving her the first strains of sound sleep that she had seen in over three days.  Leah knew she should be angry, not moping around as she was.  And she would be some day.  But the wound was still too fresh; she was just plain sad now.

            At the present, Leah's stride began to slow as she passed a small park to her right.  Turning in the direction of it, she walked up the short stone path, towards the black wrought iron gate.  She stopped at the entrance and leaned on it, the icy surface soaking through her parka.

            She glanced to the right of the fenced-in playground.  This was their park.  There stood the colorful swing set that Andrew used to push her on.  He used to push her so high she thought her toes would touch the tree behind her and she would tumble off into their lush leaves.  To her left stood the jungle gym.  They used to climb to the top of it and sit there, discussing their future.  That was where they had shared their first kiss.  One beautiful summer day, they were racing to the top, and Andrew got there first.  As he reached down to help her up, he leaned in for the kill—and Leah suddenly moved her head, bashing him in the nose.  Leah couldn't understand why she always injured Andrew during their romantic firsts, but that didn't matter, because he pulled her up to sit beside and him and finished giving her his kiss anyway.

            Now, running her hands across the top of the gate, she spied the small bench under the weeping willow tree.  That was where Andrew had proposed to her.  On a beautiful Indian summer day in the middle of October, he placed his diamond on her finger and vowed that she was the one he wanted to marry.  Leah glanced down at her now naked left ring finger.  When she had found Andrew and his other girlfriend together, she had slipped if off and thrown it angrily at his head, hoping to knock him dead, or at least render him knocked out.

            She didn't dare step inside.  If she did, she knew she would never leave.  As much as he had hurt her, she still loved him.  She didn't think anything would change that.  And she knew if she walked into that playground, she would be rooted to the ground, as close to him as she could ever be now.

            More headlights flashed on the road.  Leah never even noticed as one pair pulled off to the curb.

            "Leah!" a man's voice called out.  "Leah!"

            Leah didn't budge.  More memories went flooding through her mind.  More tears fell down her cheeks.

            The tall, well-built man who climbed out of the car continued to call her name.  "Leah!"  He walked up the short stone path, his floppy brown hair littered with small ice crystals.  He reached her and grabbed her shoulders, turning her to face him.  "Leah, I was worried!  I've spent the last two hours looking for you… you should have called me.  You shouldn't be out in this weather, and all alone at this time of night."

            "No.  I'm okay," said Leah.

            "Sure," said Rick O'Connell.  "And I'm the king of England.  I'm not buying it, Lee.  How come I haven't heard from you in four days?"

            She lost it.  Breaking into sobs, she covered her face with her hands.

            Rick pulled her to his chest.  "Oh, Leah," he said.  "You can tell me what's wrong.  You can trust me.  I'm your big brother, remember?"

            Leah continued to cry for almost five minutes in the comfort of Rick's arms, unable to speak.  When she finally found her voice, she pulled away.  "I'm sorry, Rick," she said.

            "No, don't be sorry," Rick said softly.  He was dying to know what was bothering her, but he wouldn't pry.  He pulled Leah's shivering body to his chest.  He noticed the almost violent shaking and said, "We need to get your out of this weather before you catch your death."

            Leah let Rick gently guide her to his waiting car at the curb.  He opened the door and helped her inside, then shut the door behind her.  He crawled into the other side, shook the ice crystals off his head, and gently pushed in the clutch, putting the car into gear.  "Where to, Leah?" he asked.

            "Home, I guess," Leah answered.

            "Are you sure?" Rick asked, pulling the car out into the empty street.

            "Where else do I have to go?"

            "How about my place?" Rick asked.  "We have an extra bedroom… and plenty of heat… I know your place can get sort of drafty at night, especially when it's cold outside… and Evie and Alex would sure love to see you."

            "Rick, I can't impose on Evelyn," said Leah.  "I've got my own place, and that's where I've got to go."

            "You wouldn't be imposing," said Rick.  "They'd love to have you.  Even Jonathan would be happy to see you."

            "No," said Leah simply, and Rick knew it was decided.

            A few minutes later, he pulled the car into the lot of Leah's apartment building.  He placed the car into neutral, letting it idle.  He climbed out and walked to the passenger side, opening the door.  "Leah?  Are you coming?"  
            Leah was staring up at her fourth floor apartment, a strange look on her face.  All she could remember was last Christmas, when she and Andrew had celebrated their sixth month anniversary together.  Leah had placed a small pine tree in front of the living room window that faced the parking lot.  On Christmas Eve, she had invited Andrew over to help her decorate it, and they had had the time of their lives.  That was when Leah realized that he was "the one" and that she had done the right thing by accepting his proposal.  They had had a connection… something so deep and meaningful… or so she had thought.

            "How could I have been so wrong?" whispered Leah to no one but herself.  "How did _we_ go so wrong?"

            "What?" asked Rick, leaning into the car to hear her.

            "I—I can't go in there," whispered Leah.  "He's there.  He's every where."

            "Who's there?" asked Rick suspiciously, his hand going instinctively to the holster hidden beneath his coat.

            Leah didn't answer at first.

            "Leah, did you see somebody in your apartment?" asked Rick urgently, and he unsheathed the handgun in his holster, ready to fight to defend his sister.

"Put the gun away, Rick," said Leah, snapping back to reality as she caught sight of the weapon.  One thing she hated more than Andrew was guns and fighting, which was strange for an O'Connell.  Nevertheless, she hated violence, and Rick's gun was giving her the chills.  "Put it away, there's nobody there."  She bit her lip as Rick put his gun away and examined her pale face.  "But I do believe that I will take you up on your offer.  Could I please stay at your place tonight?"

"Of course," said Rick quickly.  He closed the passenger side door and jogged to the other side, jumping in to get out of the weather.

Not a word was said on the five minutes trip to Rick's rambling manor.  He pulled his car right up to the door and let it there, helping Leah out of her seat.  The two dashed through the frozen precipitation, and Rick led his sister inside.

"What time is it?" asked Leah, shaking out her soaked hair.

"Midnight," answered Rick, helping the young girl take off her jacket.  He paused, looking his sister over.  He was bothered by the fact that she was hurting, but wouldn't tell him over what so that he could try to help.  He could tell she was neglecting herself.  Clear dark bags sagged under her eyes.  It had only been four days since he had last seen her, but he could tell she had lost weight, and the light from her haunting blue eyes was gone.  Her fiery red curls hung limply around her face, and her spirit seemed to have vanished.  Leah was outgoing, tough, and bold, but Rick had never seen her look so low.  "Have you eaten dinner?" he asked.

Leah shook her head miserably as she shucked her drenched shoes and set them to dry by the door.  "No.  I'm not very hungry."

"Well, you've got to eat," said Rick, shrugging off his jacket and removing his holster.  He placed the leather over a chair and pulled his gun out, giving Leah more shivers.  "I'm starving, and I'm sure you are, too," he said as he moved to the gun cabinet along one wall of the foyer.  "Now, I'm not much of a cook, but I do believe that I can whip up a couple of platefuls of chocolate chip pancakes.  What do you think?"  He gently placed his weapon in the cabinet and closed the glass door, making sure it was locked before he looked up at the redhead.

"No, thanks," said Leah sadly.  "May I just go to bed?"

Rick didn't say anything at first.  When he spoke, his tone was soothing, a voice that only his family had ever heard him use.  "Leah, I know something is wrong.  Please tell me.  Maybe I can help."

Leah looked up, her eyes glazed over with their now constant film of tears.  "You can't help me," she said simply.  "Nobody can."

Rick didn't know what to say.  He respected Leah, and wanted to do what she wished.  He didn't push the issue any further.  "Okay," he said finally.  "Well, if you're not hungry, how about a hot bath?  I know you must be frozen to the bone, and I'm sure that will help you feel better."

            Leah shrugged.

            "Okay.  Come on upstairs and we'll get you settled in."  As he and his sister mounted the spiral stairs, Rick wrapped his arm around Leah's shoulders and hugged her closer.  "I love you, sis," he said.  "And I always will."

            Leah didn't answer.  Instead, fresh tears trickled down her cheeks.  At least there was one person that still cared.


	2. The Solution

            Well, here's the second chapter of this story.  I hope some people are actually reading this… but it's only been a day so I'll cross my fingers and hope all of you in cyber world will take pity on me and review.  Anyways, this chapter starts out with the family discovering what happened to Leah, and ends with the beginning of how they are all going to end up in Egypt.  Also, this is just a working title for the story… I'm hoping to come up with something better, but the current one will have to do for now.  Anyways, here's chapter 2.

Chapter 2 The Solution

            The next morning, Rick, Evelyn, their son Alex, and Evelyn's goofy brother Jonathan were gathered around the dining room table, eating brunch.  They were discussing the absent family member, Leah, who was still sleeping.  It was 10:00 in the morning, but Rick knew that what his sister had been through was traumatic and that she needed all the sleep she could get.

            "I still think that the reason she's so upset is because she has no gold," said Jonathan.  "That would be enough to make even me cry."

            "Shut-up, Jonathan," said Evelyn.

            "What?  It was just a suggestion," Evie's brother complained.

            Evelyn glared at Jonathan and said, "I think we should just treat her as we normally would.  Let her know that she's welcome here as long as she needs us, and tell her that we love her.  She'll come around in her own time if we just let her alone."

            "I don't know about that," said Rick.  "We can't let her alone.  What if she just sort of withdraws into herself and we never see her the way she used to be?  If I just knew what was wrong, maybe I could help her.  She's my little sister, you know, and I want her back, happy and healthy."

            "I know you do, Rick," said Evelyn, putting her hand over Rick's, which was laying next to his plate on the table.  "And we will have her, don't worry."

            "She'll be all right, Dad," said Alex as he put down his glass of milk and picked up his fork.  "I know Aunt Leah, and she is always fine.  Her last name is O'Connell, you know.  O'Connells are tough"

            Rick grinned at that comment.  "O'Connells are tough," he repeated.

            "And Leah O'Connell is no exception," added Evelyn.

            Rick seemed to accept that explanation, at least for the moment, until the doorbell rang.

            "I wonder who that could be," said Evelyn, wiping her mouth with her napkin.

            "Hopefully someone who's come to tell me that our long lost uncle has passed on and I'm the sole heir of his multi-million pound estate," said Jonathan, making a move to get up from his chair.  "If you're all nice to me, I suppose I may be in a position to want to share some of it with you all.  If you're nice."

            "I'll get it," said Rick.  "Sit down, Jonathan."  Rick put his napkin down onto the tabletop and proceeded to leave the dining room through the doorway that led to the foyer and the front door of the mansion.

            Jonathan sat slowly in his chair and began to eat his breakfast again.  "What is it with that husband of yours, Evie?" he asked.  "I don't know what I ever did to him, but I get the feeling that he doesn't like me very much."

            "Of course he likes you, Jonathan," said Evelyn.  "He… he just gets annoyed easily, that's all."

            Jonathan sort of grumbled to himself, but Evelyn and Alex ignored him.

            There was a thump from the direction of the stairs, and then suddenly Leah entered, wearing a white terry cloth robe that she had borrowed from Evelyn.  Her hair was in a tangled ponytail, and her eyes looked heavy with sleep, as if Leah had not gotten any sleep, which from what Jonathan, Alex, and Evelyn had heard from Rick about her condition the night before, seemed like a very real possibility.

            "Aunt Leah!" said Alex excitedly.  "Good morning!"

            "Good morning, squirt," said Leah, walking to her nephew and rubbing his hair affectionately.  "Morning, Evie.  Jonathan."

            Jonathan smiled absently at her and busied himself feeding his face.

            "Good morning, Leah," said Evelyn with a big smile, hoping to spread some of her cheer to her sister-in-law.  Her next thought was to ask how Leah had slept, but she knew the answer already so she opted for another question.  "Are you hungry?"

            Leah shook her head.  "Not really."

            "Sit here, Leah!" said Alex enthusiastically, patting the seat next to his.  "I saved this one for you."

            "Thanks, Alex," Leah said, sliding into the offered seat.  She smiled at the kindness of the boy, and cracked the first smile she had smiled in days.

            "You really must eat something," said Evelyn.  "How about a muffin?  Or some toast?"

            "No, thanks," said Leah.  "I think I'll just have some milk."

            "I'll pour it for you," Alex offered eagerly, excited to be spending time with his aunt.  He reached for Leah's glass and the pitcher sitting in front of him and began to pour.

            "How about some eggs, Leah?" asked Evelyn.  "Jonathan ate most of them, but I did manage to save some just for you."

            Leah, not wanting to sound ungrateful, agreed.  "Okay."

            "They're in the kitchen," Evelyn said, jumping out of her chair.  "I'll get them and bring them to you."

            "No, that's all right," said Leah quickly, not wanting to bother her brother's loving wife.  "I can get them."

            "No, really, it's no trouble," said Evelyn, reaching for Leah's plate.

            "I know it's not, but I can take care of myself.  You finish your food before it gets cold."  Leah stood, picked up her plate, and headed towards the kitchen.  The threesome left in the dining room gazed after her, curiosity burning in their minds.

            "So, are you ready for spring break, Alex?" asked Evelyn as she reached to the center of the table for the salt and pepper shakers, trying to break the silence.

            "What do you think, Mom?" asked Alex.  "I've been ready since I was born!"

            "But I thought you liked school," Evelyn argued with her son.

            "Only history," said Alex.  "I hate math.  I'm never going to learn how to do long division.  What will I even need it for in life, anyway?"

            "Well, lots of things," Evelyn said, her mind racing to think of good examples of how she used long division in her daily life.

            "Like figuring how many dates I can have in one day," said Jonathan.  "All you have to do is take the number of minutes in a day and divide that by the ideal date duration of thirty minutes per lass.  Do you know the answer?  How many cheap girls can I have in one day?"

            "Jonathan!" said Evelyn, appalled at the direction that the conversation had taken, especially in front of her son.

            "I'm just trying to help!" said Jonathan.  "Obviously, he needs a practical example."

            Evelyn glared at her brother for about the hundredth time that day, annoyed at his whining and smart remarks.

            "Well!" said Jonathan.  "I do believe that one of those fine young ladies may be waiting for me at the door.  I think I'll go and investigate."  He quickly pushed his chair back and stood, heading towards the exit and the foyer and out of sight.  A few moments later, he reappeared, walking backwards.  "Or not," he said, tripping over a dining room chair that was sitting by the doorway and nearly falling on his rear.  Rick followed him in, a stern but comical look on his face as he watched the fear in Jonathan's eyes.

Jonathan located the table behind him with his hands and quickly found his way into his chair.  He began to nibble on a croissant, avoiding eye contact with Rick and his sister.

"Is Leah up yet?" he asked of Evie.

"Yes.  She went to get some eggs," Evelyn informed her husband.

"Okay.  She has company."  Rick turned and walked towards the foyer, motioning with his hand to someone who was standing out of sight.

"Good morning!" said Evelyn as the guest entered the dining room, followed by Rick.  "What a pleasant surprise to see you!"

"Good morning, Mrs. O'Connell," Andrew Hawkins answered.  "Mr. Carnahan.  Alex."

"Mornin', old chap," Jonathan mumbled around a mouth full of doughy grain, still avoiding eye contact with the people around him.

"Would you like something to eat, Andrew?" asked Evelyn of the tall young man standing in front of her.

"Oh, no thanks, Mrs. O'Connell.  I've just come to call on Leah.  Is she available?"

"Oh, she went to get some eggs.  She should be right in.  Have a seat," said Evelyn, motioning towards a vacant chair on the other side of Leah's.

Andrew sat, playing nervously with the cuff of his sleeve, wondering why Leah's family was being so hospitable after all that had happened.

"So how's school going?" asked Rick, settling into his chair beside Evelyn.

"Oh, oh, it's going fine," said Andrew.  "It's hard work, but I think it's all going to pay off."

"Sha!  It ought to, after all that money you have to cough up!" said Jonathan, suddenly becoming interested in the conversation.  "But if you had all of the money that _I_ have—"

"All of the money that _I_ have," corrected Rick.  "Don't you have somewhere to be, Jonathan?"

"No," said Jonathan nonchalantly.

"Whatever happened to that fine young lady, Uncle Jon?" asked Alex.

"Uh, well, she—"

"Andrew?" a voice suddenly gasped from the direction of the kitchen.

"Leah!" said Andrew, standing quickly.  "Leah, you have no idea how glad I am to see you.  I—"

Andrew's only answer was the sound of shattering ceramic as Leah's plate of eggs ended up on the floor.

Everybody was absolutely stunned.  Everybody but Leah and Andrew, that is.

"Oh my god!  Leah, are you all right?" asked Andrew, darting towards the redhead.

She screamed.  "Get away from me!" she screeched.  "Leave me alone!  I hate you and I never want to see you again!"  She turned and ran into the kitchen.

            "Leah!  Leah, wait!" yelled Andrew.  He began to run after her, but Rick quickly snapped into action and yanked the young man back into the dining room.  He threw him into one of the dining room chairs as Evelyn rushed after Leah.

            "Well!  This suddenly got interesting!" said Jonathan, sitting back and propping his feet on the table.

            "You.  Out.  Now," grunted Rick, pointing at Jonathan and then pointing towards the dining room entrance as he held Andrew in the chair with his other hand.

            "Sorry, Uncle Jon," said Alex, pushing his plate away from his body and crossing his arms over his chest.

            "You, too, Alex."

            Alex and Jonathan left, grumbling the entire way.

            "And now," said Rick to Andrew, "you and I are going to get to the bottom of this.  Please explain to me, in ten words or less, how you have hurt my baby sister.  Or if you don't, you _will_ regret it."

            "What a snake," Evelyn said that night as she and Rick were getting ready for bed.  "I'd like to just take his neck in my hands and twist it all around until…"  Evelyn trailed off as she flopped onto the large king bed.  "How could he do such a thing?"

            "I don't know," said Rick.  "But I _do_ know what I'll do to him if I ever see him again."  Rick cocked the hammer of his handgun to the ready before he placed it in his dresser drawer.

            Evie laid back onto her pillows.  "We have to find a way to help her.  She loves him so… but she's got to start letting him go.  How can we help?"

            "I know what I'd do," said Rick deeply, removing his holster from his shoulders.  "I like to think of it as doing Andrew a favor."

            "No, Rick.  No.  Whatever you're thinking, no.  We have to do something for Leah, not Andrew."

            "Well, we'll think of something.  Right now, she's safe and sound in her room.  And right now, you and I are all alone…"  He leaned over and smothered his wife in kisses.

            "Oh, Rick," said Evelyn, returning his nibbles.  "Rick!"

            "Just promise me one thing," said Rick.

            "What's that?" asked Evelyn, wrapping her arms around her husband's neck.

            "Promise me we'll find a way to help Leah," he whispered in her ear.  "Promise me that she will be okay."

            "We'll try our best," said Evelyn.  "The rest is up to Leah."

            "I love you," said Rick.

            "And I, you," Evelyn breathed, and husband and wife consummated their love.

            The solution to the problem came the next day.  Leah and Evelyn headed to work.  The new curator, Dr. Applegate, was back from his vacation, and he put Leah straight to work alphabetizing a new shipment of books.  He then pulled Evelyn aside, to his back room where he kept all of the treasures that he had unearthed on his many trips to Egypt.

            "Here it is," he said in a low voice as he and Evelyn walked passed a sarcophagus in the middle of the dimly lit room.  "What do you think?"

            "Wow," said Evelyn., amazed.  "Where did you find this?"

            Dr. Applegate smiled triumphantly.  "At the Pyramid of Samir-hi."

            "You mean, the lost pyramid of the lost city of Rathshad?" asked Evelyn incredulously.  "Where the fabled Battle of Rathshad took place?  Where the Egyptians fought their civil war, brother against brother?"

            Dr. Applegate nodded triumphantly.

            "You found it?!" asked Evie, astonished.

            Dr. Applegate nodded again.  "That battle has never been proven to have happened, because nobody has ever found the city.  Until now."

            "Where?  How?  When?  I mean—"

            "Well, I used this," said the curator, and he pulled a piece of yellowed paper out of his pocket.  "This map was found in the Statue of Hourus by one of my interns.  It was found inside this crate, buried ten meters below Hourus' feet."

            "Amazing," Evelyn said, fingering the six-inch high statues scatter throughout the crate sitting on the floor.  The figurines were in the shapes of ancient pharaohs, warriors, priests, and queens, and gave Evelyn a bit of an uneasy, yet curious feeling.

            "Is this not near the same place where the Book of the Living was found?" asked Dr. Applegate.

            "Why, yes it is," said Evelyn, a bit proudly.  "My husband and I found it there over ten years ago."  She shivered as she thought of the events leading up to the discovery, but then smiled as she remembered the first stages of her relationship with Rick.  "Interesting.  Very interesting."  She knelt down and continued to examine the curator's findings as Dr. Applegate wandered away to study some of the other collections he had in the room.

            Suddenly, her bright idea dawned on her.  She shot to her feet and walked quickly to her boss.  "Dr. Applegate," she began purposefully, "what would you think of allowing one of your colleagues to go back to Rathshad?  It has only just been discovered, surely you will sponsor several more expeditions to the area."

            "Of course," Dr. Applegate said, moving around a large wall with hieroglyphics written on it.  "Hopefully within the next few months, I will have a couple of hundred men trained to excavate the site.  I have several well-renowned archaeologists on my team, but I need men to dig, men to move, men to assist.  And finding those men and teaching them the expertise they will need will take time."

            "Yes, I understand, Dr. Applegate, but do you think that perhaps you yourself should go back before the diggers and archaeologist and look around a little more to see what else you may find?"

            "My dear Evelyn, I'd love to, but I cannot go back.  I'm not as young as I used to be; and besides, I have a museum to run and an expedition to organize."

            "Then send me!" said Evelyn excitedly.

            Dr. Applegate did not flinch.  Instead, he kept moving through the room.  "Absolutely not," he spoke with firmness.

            "Why not?" asked Evie, indignant but not discouraged.  "You know that I am the best historian and archaeologist in this city—probably in the entire country!  I can have a team together in just a week, and we can scope the site out for anything significant before you send in the masses.  I will only need a team of five to ten people, and a small budget of—" she glimpsed the look on Dr. Applegate's face at the mention of money—"of nothing at all!"

            Dr. Applegate finally stopped moving and turned slowly to Evelyn.  "Mrs. O'Connell, what makes you think that I need _you_ to go to Rathshad before I send my expedition?"

            "Well, I _am_ very knowledgeable about ancient Egypt… you've said that yourself, may I remind you.  And you will need somebody to decide which places the team should excavate first, and the lost city of Rathshad has always been one of the most interesting places that I have studied.  I truly believe that I can find the most noteworthy locations to study.  I can find the places that hold the most fascinating discoveries—ones that are just out there waiting for us to dig them up!"

            Dr. Applegate began moving around the room again, lifting a cloth atop a shelf to examine a few jewels.  "And what makes you think that _I_ haven't already found these places?" he asked, trying to control a chuckle.

            "Well, you certainly don't have as much of… uh, endurance as you once did, nor are you as young as you once were…"

            Dr. Applegate glared at Evelyn over his shoulder.

            She continued, gulping as she spoke, "But you were only gone four days.  That is not nearly enough time to get an even remotely in depth look into a city that has been lost for four thousand years.  _And_ you will be so incredibly busy planning for your formal excursion that you won't have the _time_ to put into exploring the ruins as I will.  Oh, Dr. Applegate, do you have any idea what sending me to Rathshad will mean?"

            Dr. Applegate turned to face Evelyn and burst into full-blown laughter.  "Ah ha ha… ha ha… ha ha ha!" he crowed.

            Evelyn just looked at her mentor strangely as he laughed.  "_Dr._ Applegate," she said, clearly upset.  "Why are you laughing?"

            "Oh, Evelyn, you make me laugh so… ah ha ha… ha ha…"

            Evelyn pursed her lips and placed her fists on her slender hips.  "Well, I never!" she said angrily.

            Dr. Applegate closed his mouth and tried to regain his composure.  "Oh, Evelyn, Evelyn, I am not laughing at you!" he said, grinning.

            "You're not?" asked Evelyn, knitting her eyebrows in confusion.

            "Well, okay, maybe I was, _but_" he stressed, taking in Evie's angry frown, "it's only because I know why you want to go to Rathshad, and well, I can't very well blame you."

            "And _why_ do I want to go?" asked Evie, annoyed.

            "Because.  You are like me.  This is what you thrive on.  It's the essence of your being.  Because you love this kind of thing and you want to have one more adventure.  Am I right?"

            Evie finally smiled, and nodded sheepishly.  "You're right, Dr. Applegate."

            "I was going to ask you to go all along," he said.  "I just wanted to string you along a little.  So, now I am asking you:  Will you please take a small team to Rathshad to do some investigating for me?  The British Museum will fund your trip, you just have to get yourself there."

            "Will I?" asked Evelyn.  "Of  course I will!  And I know just who my team mates will be!"


	3. Bump in the Night

            Well, here is the long-awaited for third chapter of this story!  Special thanks to AnimeChick91 and Lilylynn for their words of encouragement.  Thanks for reviewing guys, it makes me feel really good and makes me want to write more.  So anyways, I had a little trouble with the last chapter getting the formatting to look normal, every time I went to a new scene, the computer sort of ran it together with the scene before it, which I know made it hard to figure out what was going on in some sections.  I really did put spaces between them!  I swear!  I hope it looks better in this chapter, but sorry if it doesn't.  Anyways, I'll shut up now and let you all read what you came here to read.

Chapter 3  Bump in the Night

            "No!  Evelyn, no!  We've been through this before.  Do you remember what happened the last time we went exploring in some guy's grave?" asked Rick.

            "Yes!  We made the discovery of a life time!" said Evelyn.  "And this isn't just some guy's tomb.  This is the Pyramid of Samir-hi.  The Egyptian princess, daughter of the pharaoh Rathshad, who led the Egyptian rebels in their plight against their brothers."  She smiled sexily at Rick.  "It's just a monument.  If we're lucky, we'll find her tomb."

            "No, only if we're _un_lucky.  Which is usually the case.  Evelyn, we can't."

            "Yes, we can.  We need some family bonding time right now."

            "We can't!  I'm not sure that I can put up with your brother for that amount of time."

            "Rick, you put up with him every day of your life.  What's the difference if it's in Egypt or London?"  Evelyn laid her hand on Rick's back.

            "Alex has school," said Rick.

            "Spring break is next week," argued Evelyn, placing her other hand around Rick's neck.

            "Leah doesn't need this kind of pressure on her right now," said Rick.

            "This will be the perfect thing for her!" exclaimed Evelyn.  "It will get her out of London and away from Andrew."

            Rick closed his eyes for a second and sighed loudly.  Then he turned to face his wife and sighed again.  "Okay.  Okay.  We'll go.  But only if we don't bring any mummies back to life!"

            Evelyn laughed.  "Oh, Rick, I promise, no more mummies."

            Rick laughed too and wrapped his arms around Evelyn's waist, pulling her close.  "Why do I let you talk me into these things?"

            "Because you love me," said Evelyn flirtatiously, moving her lips close to Rick's.  "And because you can't resist me."

            "Do we have to go?" whined Jonathan later that evening at the dinner table.

            "No, _you_ don't," said Evelyn sarcastically.  "We just thought it would be nice to go together and have some family time."

            "_Family_ time?  Mum, I'm perfectly willing to enjoy some _family_ time with all of you!  But does it have to be in Egypt?  Why can't we go to America?  Or France?  Or Japan?  Or the Caribbean?  I'm pretty sure there aren't any chances of accidentally bringing ancient mummies back to life in those places!"

            "Right," said Jonathan.  "And I can meet some lovely young ladies in all of those places.  But in Egypt?  I can hook up with a great big pile of sand, maybe."

            "How about a nice, long-legged tan camel, Uncle Jon?" asked Alex with a smirk.

            "Alexander O'Connell!" said Evelyn, appalled.

            "Relax, Evelyn," broke in Rick.  "Now, Jonathan, you can stay home if you want, but Alex, you're going.  End of discussion."

            "But Dad--"

            "No buts, Alex," said Evelyn.

            "But how come he doesn't have to go?" Alex whined, pointing at Jonathan, who was eagerly filling his mouth with stuffed olives.

            "Didn't I just say no buts?" reprimanded Evelyn.

            "Yes, Mum," said Alex, lowering his head to look at his plate.  "I'm sorry.  I'll go."

            "That's better," said Evelyn.

            "Leah," said Rick, trying to get his sister attention.

            Leah, who had been picking at her food for the length of the conversation, finally looked up.  "Yes?" she asked softly.

            "Leah, the invitation includes you.  We'd like you to come along with us.  If you want."

            "Definitely!  You're part of our family, too, and we'd love you to come along!" piped up Evelyn.

            "Oh, please, please, Aunt Leah?" begged Alex from next to the young girl.  He grabbed her hand.  "Pretty, pretty please?"

            Leah looked back down at her plate.  "Thanks, but no thanks," she said.  "I—I'm not really in the mood for traveling."

            "But this is just what you need!" said Evelyn.  "You need to get away from London, take a break from your job, and get away from… um, _him_.  This is the perfect excuse to do all three!  Come on, Leah," Evelyn begged.  "It'll be such fun."

            "Please, Lee.  I promise you won't regret it," Rick said.

            "We won't make you work—_too _much," added Evelyn in a teasing tone, trying to encourage a smile or a laugh from the redhead.

            "Wait!  How come _she_ doesn't have to work, but I do?" asked Jonathan.

            Everybody ignored Jonathan.

            "Please, please, Leah!  I'll be there with you!  You and I can have so much fun together!" said Alex.  "We can run in the sand dunes and wear turbans, and best of all, we can _ride camels_!  Won't that be so much fun?"

            "Just say yes, Lee," said Rick.  "It wouldn't be the same without you."

            The family was quiet as Leah finally looked up.  She looked around the table for a few seconds, taking in the hopeful expressions on everyone's faces.  Finally, she spoke "You guys sure drive a hard bargain."

            "Does that mean that you'll go?" asked Evelyn quietly.

            Leah chuckled.  "Yes, that means I'll go."

            "All right!" cried Rick and Alex together, jumping out of their chairs.  Alex started to do a little dance, while Rick walked around the table to Leah and squeezed her shoulder.  "I promise, we'll take good care of you, little sis."

            "I have no doubt you will," she said, laying her hand on top of his and squeezing it back.  "Even if I can take care of myself."

            Rick grinned happily and headed back to his seat.  Everybody began talking excitedly, making plans for the trip.

            "All right, all right," said Jonathan a few minutes later, out of the blue.  "I'll go, too.  Just quit pestering me about it!"

            Although a comment like that would have usually made Rick and Evelyn annoyed, Evelyn instead just grinned at her husband and answered her brother, "Of course.  The more, the merrier!"

            Two weeks later, Leah flopped heavily onto a stack of pillows and sighed appreciatively.  "This is the life," she said, taking a quick sip of water from her canteen.

            "It is," Evelyn agreed from the other side of the tent, where she was rubbing her legs with lotion.

            "After two grueling days of digging, that campfire dinner really hit the spot," added Leah.  She laughed.  "Especially when Jonathan caught himself on fire."

            Evelyn chuckled too.  "Yes.  Jonathan and fire just do not mix."

            "I sure could use a break from digging," said Leah, laying back onto her makeshift bed.  "Work on my tan a little."

            "You don't want to work on your tan here," said Evelyn, capping the bottle of lotion in her hands and placing it in the open bag next to her.  "The sun here in the desert is dangerous without protection.  You'd become the poster girl for skin cancer if you decided to tan here!"

            "Oh, all right.  I'll settle for a nap and playing cards.  How about it, Evie?  Can we take a day off tomorrow?  You told me we'd have some family bonding time, and so far, we haven't had any.  Please?" asked Leah, drawing herself onto all fours and crawling quickly to Evelyn.  She rose up on her knees and clasped her hands together in front of her face.  "Please, please, please?" she pleaded, grinning hopefully.

 "I think I can deal with a break," Evelyn said, giving into her sister-in law.  She looked up and smiled at Leah.  "Tomorrow is dedicated to working on our tans."

            "And playing cards," Leah added, smiling back at Evelyn.

            "And playing cards," Evelyn repeated, glad to see Leah so happy.  _This really was a good idea,_ she said to herself. _Leah is really coming out of her shell and enjoying herself.  She hasn't said one word about Andrew in the last three days.  I knew this trip would be therapeutic for her._

            "Knock knock," said a voice outside the tent.  "Are you both decent?"

            "Yes, we're decent," said Leah, laughing as her brother lifted the door flap of the tent and entered.  "But I bet you wish your wife wasn't!"

            Rick smiled happily at his sister, glad that she was acting like herself again.  He didn't say a word, just dropped to his knees and kissed Evelyn.  Then he leaned over and kissed Leah on the cheek.  "We're getting ready to turn in," he said.  "We just wanted to make sure there was nothing you ladies needed."

            "Well, if there was, we're perfectly capable of getting it ourselves," said Evelyn.  "Aren't we, Lee?"  She glanced over to her friend and grinned.

            "Right," said Leah.

            "Okay, okay," Rick surrendered.  He knew that both women felt strongly about things like independence and he didn't want to get involved in an argument.  He instead reached into the holster on his pants and pulled out a small handgun.  "I also wanted to give you this," he said.

            "What would we need that for?" asked Leah, half afraid to touch it.

            "For protection," Rick answered simply.

            "Protection from what?" asked Leah.  "We've gone two nights now without a gun in this tent, what makes you think we need one now?"

            "Don't ask questions," said Rick in a low voice that was tinged with just a bit of urgency.  "Evelyn, you know how to use it, so if you feel the need, you know what to do."

            "But I don't understand!" said Leah as Rick kissed his wife.  "I _hate_ guns!"

            "Well, some day they may save your life," Rick said as he kissed Leah's cheek good-bye.

            "But--"

            Rick headed towards the tent flap and lifted it up.  "You don't have to use it.  It's just to make me feel better.  Now, I love you both, sleep tight, and yell if you need me."  And he was gone into the sand outside, heading towards his own tent on the other side of the dwindling campfire.

            "Well!" said Evie brightly, quickly pushing the gun under a pillow and out of mind, at least she hoped.  "Are you about ready to turn in?"

            Leah sighed deeply.  "I guess so."  She settled into her stack of pillows and pulled her blankets around her, shivering against the chill in the air.  Desert days she knew were hot, but desert nights were downright chilly.

            Evelyn dimmed the light in the lantern next to her until it went out.  "Cheer up, Lee," she said as she snuggled into her own bed.  "Tomorrow is a brand new day."

            Leah smiled to herself.  Evelyn was right.  Leah's eyes drifted closed on thoughts of sunshine and fun with her family.

            Leah awakened suddenly later that night.  She estimated that it was around three o'clock in the wee hours of the morning.  Drawing in a deep breath of the cool air around her, she rolled over to face Evelyn's sleeping bag.  However, Evelyn was not there.

            Leah sat up, pushing her blankets off her body.  She saw her sister-in-law crouched by the flap of the tent, listening intently.

            "Evie?" asked Leah sleepily.  "Evie, what are you doing?"

            "Shh!" said Evelyn urgently, glancing at Leah and then back out the tent flap.

            Leah crept out of her sleeping covers and joined Evelyn.  And she heard it.  Men screaming.

            "What is that?" asked Leah, her heart beginning to pound.

            "I don't know," whispered Evelyn.

            "It's not Rick and Alex and Jonathan, is it?" asked Leah, worried.

            "I don't know," said Evelyn again.

            _This is serious_, thought Leah, scared.  _Rick and Alex—and Jonathan—could be in danger_!

            As Leah looked down, she caught a glimpse of something shiny and silver in Evelyn's hands.  Upon a second look, she realized that Evelyn was holding Rick's gun.  _This is soooo serious_.  "What should we do?" she asked, beginning to shake as the screaming continued, closer this time.

            "Leah!" hissed Evelyn.  "Shh!"  She gently nudged Leah away from the tent entrance as a large crash was heard outside, just a few feet from where the two girls were kneeling.  "Stay away from the door!"

            Suddenly, a shadow appeared on the tent wall next to the door.

            Leah's heart stopped as a bloodcurdling scream erupted from her mouth.

I had to leave you all hanging on this so you will review and beg me for the next chapter!  Thanks a lot for reading guys, and if you like it or don't like it, review, but just don't flame me!  Thanks a lot everyone!


	4. Run!

Here is chapter 4!  I am glad to hear that people are reading this story and liking it!  Thanks to Fan of the Mummy, AnimeChick91, and Julie for your words of encouragement.  I will continue this story as long as you are all reading!  Anyway, this chapter is when things start happening.  It may not make much sense right now, but the next chapter or two will start to make things look clearer.  Anyways, enjoy!

Chapter 4  Run!

            Evelyn lunged at Leah and clamped her hand over Leah's mouth.  "Shh!" she whispered for about the millionth time.

            Leah, shaking, nodded as Evelyn removed her hand.  She grabbed a blanket from her bedding and wrapped it around her shoulders as Evelyn moved towards the door again.

            A few agonizing seconds went by.  Then Leah heard Evelyn ask softly, "Rick?  Rick, is that you?"

            "Oh, thank God."  Leah heard her brother's voice approaching the tent.

            "Rick!" called Leah loudly, trying to be heard over the continued screaming.  She ripped open the flap of the tent and stepped out, right on top of her brother's feet.  "Rick, what's going on?" she asked.

            "Are you guys okay?" Rick asked, ignoring his sister's question and reaching his hands out to keep her from falling on her face.

            "We're fine," said Evelyn, a bit breathlessly.  "And Alex and Jonathan?"

            "Fine," said Rick quickly, grabbing his wife's and sister's hands.  He began to lead them around the campfire towards the tent he was sharing with Alex and Jonathan.

            Leah checked out the territory.  Looking back at the tent they were leaving, with the excavation site just a half mile behind it, Leah could make out a couple of bonfires and several men running around wildly, still screaming.  Her eyes widened and she stopped in her tracks, taking it all in.

            "Lee?" asked Rick earnestly, tugging on her hand.  "Lee, what is it?"

            A breeze went across the campsite just then.  It was a strange breeze, too warm for the cold desert night.  She shivered and shook her head to clear her mind, then let her brother lead her away.

            "Oh, good, there you are, Evie," she heard Jonathan say as they reached the guys' tent.

            "Hi, Aunt Leah," she heard Alex say as Rick opened the tent flap and began to help her inside.

            "All of you, stay here," Rick ordered.  "I'm going down to investigate."

            "I'm going with you," said Evelyn, who still hadn't entered.  Leah saw the flash of silver in the doorway and knew that Evie was still holding the gun, ready to fight if the need arose.  She also spied the bulges underneath Rick's white shirt and knew that he was fully armed as well.

            "No," said Rick firmly, placing his hands on Evelyn's shoulders.  "You are staying here."

            "I'm coming," said Evelyn, "and you can't stop me."

            Rick looked over his shoulder at the approaching mob, which was continuously coming closer, the noise becoming louder.  "Evelyn, I don't have time to argue this.  Now stay here."

            "No!  I'm going to go with you.  Leah and Alex can stay here."

            "And me?" asked Jonathan hopefully.

            Nobody acknowledged Jonathan.  Instead, Rick looked deep into Evie's eyes.  Then he sighed loudly.  "Fine.  We'll go together.  But I'm going first."

            "Deal," said Evelyn, and she closed the flap behind her sister-in-law.

            "We'll be back for the three of you," Rick called inside.  "Just stay here until we do."

            "Okay, Dad," said Alex obediently.  He, his aunt, and his uncle watched his parents' shadows disappear into the night.

            "Well," said Jonathan.

            "Well?  All you can say is 'well', Uncle Jon?" asked Alex incredulously.  "We could be moments away from our deaths and that's all you have to say?"

            "Oh, now, come on," said Leah with a nervous chuckle.  She pulled Alex to her side.  "We're not going to die.  They're probably just having a wild party down there."

            "A party?"  Jonathan burst into laughter.  "Who's having a party?  Nobody even knows this stupid place exists!  Who would even be here, anyway?"

            "We are," Alex pointed out.

            Leah shot Jonathan a sour look, and he began to grumble under his breath about how everybody was so mean to him.  He crawled to the other side of the tent and buried himself under his blankets.

            "Aunt Leah?" asked Alex as he snuggled against his aunt.

            "Yes?" asked Leah.

            "Can I show you something?"

            "Sure," said Leah, her mind only half on what Alex was saying.

            Alex reached into his pocket.  "Look what I found in the pyramid today," he said, holding his palm out to his aunt.  In it was a small piece of yellowed, very old scroll paper.

            "What is it?" asked Leah, only half interested as she listened to the mob getting closer, the screams getting louder, and doom becoming imminent.

            "A letter," whispered Alex, unfolding the brittle paper to reveal a page full of ancient Egyptian writing.  "A letter to Samir-hi.  You know, the princess?"

            "Princess?" asked Leah absently, peering out the tent flap to see the mob just a hundred yards away.

            "Yes.  A letter to Samir-hi, Rathshad's daughter.  Do you know who it's from?"

            "Who?" asked Leah, clutching Alex closer.

            "Imhotep," said Alex dramatically.  "It's a letter to Samir-hi from Imhotep."

            "Not that guy again," moaned Jonathan from his blankets.  "We are so going to die.  I knew this trip was a bad idea!  But would anybody listen to me?"

            "Imhotep?" asked Leah, still distracted, but slowly becoming more interested in what her nephew was telling her.  "You mean, the priest that was favored by Pharaoh Seti?"

            "You know your history, young lass," said Jonathan, impressed.

            "I ought to… my fiancé is an Egyptian history major… I mean, uh, my _ex-_fiancé was an Egyptian history major," said Leah, memories flooding through her mind.

            "Yes, he was the priest guy who was favored by Pharaoh Seti," said Alex quickly, trying to change the subject from Andrew to the situation at hand.  "He fell in love with Anck-su-namun, Seti's concubine."

            "He was murdered by the pharaoh and now he haunts innocent people who dig around in his grave and disturb his slumber," said Jonathan, sitting up and crawling to the pair on the other side.

            "What do you mean, he haunts them?" asked Leah.

            "Let's just say, that even though he's dead, his immortal soul still lives, and he likes to chase innocent people around and take their eyes and tongues and stuff until he has a whole body, and then he tries to take over the world," said Jonathan.

            "And how do you know this?" asked Leah, getting annoyed, as usual, with Jonathan's crassness and bluntness.

            "Experience," said Jonathan, wagging his head.

            Leah shook her head disgustedly at Jonathan.

            "He's telling the truth, Aunt Leah," said Alex.  "And I'm very afraid that the same thing may happen again."

            "Read the letter," said Leah softly.

            Alex nodded and smoothed the wrinkled paper.  Slowly, he began to translate.

_My dearest Samir-hi,_

_            I know you, though you know me only in name, as the priest who watched over twin brothers Rathshad and Seti I.  I have watched from afar as you grew from a small child, to a beautiful young lady, to a strong warrior.  It is hard to believe that now you are gone from this world, never to be seen by the mortal again._

_            Even in death, I admire your beauty.  I hardly dare to tell you what I am going to say, for fear of ruining the serene look that is on your face in death, but I must share this secret._

_First I must ask for your understanding and patience, for what I am about to tell you has pained me for many years.  I am going to reveal a secret to you, one that nobody must know.  Your whole life, you grew believing to be the daughter of Rathshad, brother to Seti.  But I am writing to tell you that this is not true.  You are, Samir-hi, my daughter.  You are my flesh and blood, my lovechild with your mother, my lover Alshirem, Rathshad's wife.  A few years after you were born, Rathshad rebelled against his brother, pharaoh of Egypt, and thus came the Egyptian Civil War, which distanced you and I as we were on opposite sides.  But now we can make amends, and be the father and daughter that we truly are.  Some day soon, your mother and I will be together, and when we are, we will come for you.  I will bring you back, and we will be a family, the one we were always meant to be.  I am so sorry that it took your death for me to admit to you the secret your mother and I have carried since your birth, but I felt that you must know that although you were not raised as my daughter, I do love you.  Always and forever, for eternity, I will love you, and we will be together some day.  I will come for you, my little Samir-hi, my warrior, my daughter.  I will come for you_

_._

_                                                                          Your loving father,_

_                                                                     Imhotep_

Silence filled the tent as the words sunk into their minds.  Then Jonathan asked the burning question:  "What does it mean?"

"Well, it means that Samir-hi is Imhotep's lovechild with Rathshad's wife, Alshirem," said Leah, summing up the letter in one sentence.

"Imhotep always wants to be with the ones he loves," commented Jonathan.  "Which means that if he is ever raised from the dead again, he will raise Samir-hi.  Which means one more person will help him try to take over the world."

"But Samir-hi was good-hearted!" exclaimed Leah.  "She wouldn't want to take over the world or harm people!  She and her father rebelled against Seti and started the civil war because they wanted to free the Jewish slaves!  And she disguised herself as a warrior and fought in the Battle of Rathshad!  That was how she died!  She wouldn't want to attack innocent people, she would try to stop Imhotep!  Even if he _was_ her father!  In her heart, Rathshad was her father.  Rathshad was a man of peace, a man of love, a man of fairness.  And he passed these qualities on to Samir-hi."

"Okay, that's all fine and dandy, except that there's about a hundred men careening towards us at this very moment," said Jonathan.  He pointed towards the door, where the shadows of the mob were clear on the tent sides.

"We have about ten seconds before we're turned into camel pellets," said Alex.

Without a second thought, Leah grabbed Alex's and Jonathan's hands.  She yanked open the tent flap and helped them out, then climbed out herself.  She gasped at what was happening in front of her.

About a hundred feet away, gobs of men were screaming and running, straight towards the O'Connells' campsite.  Behind them, a large wave of locusts was chirping and clicking, chasing the group.  A strong, hurricane-like wind began blowing across the desert, kicking up sandstorms and making it hard to breathe.

"Who are these people?" asked Alex.  "What are they doing here?"

"There's no time for that, chap!" said Jonathan.  "We've got to get out of here!"

"But Dad said to stay here!" Alex argued.  "He said he'd come back for us!"

Suddenly, Leah heard pounding on the ground, as if a herd of elephants was heading towards them.  When she looked out towards the mob, which was now a mere seventy feet away, she saw about a dozen men on horseback galloping towards them, going around the mob and heading to the front of the crowd.

"Ahhh!" screamed Jonathan, and he turned and began to run in the same direction as the mob.

"Uncle Jon!" cried Alex, running after Evelyn's crazy brother.  "Uncle Jon, come back!"

Leah, becoming frightened, turned and watched the pair run.  "Hey!  You guys!  Don't leave me alone here!  Please!"  She looked over her shoulder and saw that the horses, now in the lead of the pack, were only thirty feet away from trampling her down.  "Guys!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.  "Guys, don't leave me here!"  She tentatively took a step around the tent, reluctant to disobey Rick's orders and leave the campsite.  Looking back over her shoulder, the mob was now only twenty feet away.  "Please!  Wait for me!" she shouted, and she began to run.

Panting with fear, she tried to catch up with her nephew and his uncle.  But they had had a good head start, and showed no intention of stopping to wait for her to catch up.

"Traitors!" she screeched through clenched teeth.  "Both of you!  Traitors!"

Alex heard this, and turned from chasing Jonathan.  "Leah!  Run!  Hurry!" he cried.

Leah ran for all she was worth, running, running, all the while the screaming coming closer as Leah realized that she was no match for the advancing pack and that she was soon going to be trampled to death.  She knew she was only ten feet from meeting her maker, and with the last ounce of energy she possessed, she began to pray.

"Leah!" she heard Alex yelling.  "Leah, look out!  Leah!"

Suddenly, she heard a swooshing noise, and something thumped her on the back.

_This is it_, she thought.  _This is the end._

She was lifted into the air, her long curls being yanked upon, and all of the breath being sucked out of her as a strong pair of arms wrapped themselves around her.

"Hold on tight, ma'am," said a deep, authoritative voice as the arms dragged her even higher and pulled her onto the horse's back.  "We have no time to lose."

"But I—I mean—Alex!" she cried.  "Alex!"

"Do not worry.  They have been taken care of."

"But they're going to get trampled!"  Leah attempted to climb down off the horse, and she nearly succeeded, coming with six inches of falling head first to the ground from atop the racing equine.

"Please!  Do not worry!" said the voice again as the hands grasped Leah's waist and pulled her back to safety.  "They are not in danger, I promise you."

"How do you know?"

"No time for questions," said the strange man, and he urged his mount on.  "We have no time for questions.  The creature has returned."


	5. He's Baack!

Here's chapter 5!  It may take me longer now to update this story now since I've posted everything I had written before and now must write each chapter as I go along.  Sorry if that bothers anybody, I will try my best to update ASAP as long as you all like this story!  And just so you all know, this story is not based on any historical facts, as my brother would say, I just pulled this out of my butt because it made a good story!

Thanks to all of you who reviewed, I'm going to reply individually to you just so you know how much I really appreciate your words!

DangerousMutanxXx004 (a.k.a. AnimeChick91, you changed your pen name on me but that's okay!):  This update is especially for you since you have been one of my most loyal reviewers so far!  And to answer your question about Ardeth… well, just read on to find out!!

Lilylynn: Thanks for the compliment!  I have been writing since I was very young, and everybody made fun of me about it and told me I wasn't any good.  I am glad that at least one person thinks I am!  Sorry, no R/E moments in this chapter since they didn't really fit, but I will put some in later chapters just for you!

immortalwizardpirateelf-fan: I was hoping that somebody would figure out that the Medjai were down at the pyramid!  I was trying to hint at it without giving too much away, and I'm glad you picked up on it!  To answer your other question, I think that as long as there are humans on this earth, bad guys will never learn!

Captain Melissa Sparrow: I just have to tell you that I love your name!  My name is Melissa, it is a good name!  Anyways, thank you for pointing out the spelling of Hourus to me.  I had not a clue that I was spelling it wrong.  You will be happy to know that I've fixed the problem and reposted it with the correct one.  Thanks!

Also I must give a big shout out to my little bro!  He helped me enormously with the ideas behind Samir-hi and Rathshad.  Thanks for your help, Cubby!  I really hope he isn't reading this because he hates it when I call him Cubby!  But just in case you are, Cub, grins innocently  I love you!

Now on with the story!

Chapter 5: He's ba-ack!

"What _creature_?" asked Leah, turning over her left shoulder to look at the stranger, her face indignant.  However, the look on her delicate, freckled features left as she caught sight of him.  Her breath caught in her throat as she took in his dark, handsome features and the flowing robes he was wearing.

Ardeth Bay did not answer her. (A/N: Yes, you were all right, the man on horseback was Ardeth!).  Instead, he raised his hand into the air, and at that point, Leah noticed that the other men on horseback had closed in on her and Ardeth and were thundering side by side with them.

Leah looked about, a wall of men and horses surrounding her.  On a couple of horses just ahead of her, she saw Alex and Jonathan with several other men dressed just like the stranger that still held her tightly.  Alex was sitting patiently in front of his rescuer, and when he caught sight of Leah looking at him, he waved happily.  Leah waved back.

Jonathan was sitting with his rescuer, pretending like he was a cowboy.  "Giddyap!  Let's go!" he was shouting, and it was all Leah could do to keep from laughing.  She had to look away, so she checked out the scene behind her.  She noticed that the mob of screaming men had been left in their dust, and that the pack of horses had successfully outrun the mob and the swarm of locusts.

Suddenly, a thought hit Leah.  "Evelyn!  Rick!" she shouted as the entourage veered off to the left, afraid that her brother and his wife had been caught in the mob.  But she needn't have worried, because at that moment, she saw two of the camels that the family had ridden to Rathshad come galloping from the direction of their abandoned campsite.  Her brother and sister-in-law sat atop them, safe and sound.

"Oh, thank God," she whispered to herself.

A few minutes later, the caravan was completely out of sight and ear shot of the horror that had just happened.  Everything was silent except for the _clip clop_ of the horses' and camels' hooves, and desert sand stretched around them in all directions.  The stranger who was still gripping Leah for all he was worth raised his hand again, and the group slowed from their break neck gallop to a comfortable trot, and then a slow, leisurely walk.  Leah felt Ardeth release his death grip until his hands were just comfortably circling her trim waist.

Rick rode up along side Leah and Ardeth.  "Lee, how are you doing?" he asked, looking down from atop his camel.

"Pretty good, considering that a man on a horse basically knocked me off my feet and rode off into the desert sands with me, and I still don't know who he is," said Leah.  She smiled at her brother and turned her head quickly, her hair swooshing out behind her.  "So who are you, anyway?" she asked the man.

"Ffwww!" said Ardeth, and he spit out a mouthful of dark red curls.  He unwrapped his left hand from her waist and held her mane of hair in his hands.  He looked at it strangely.  "I have never seen hair of this color before," he said.  "And why does it look so… bent?"

"Bent?" asked Leah.  "What do you mean, bent?" she said, yanking the pile of hair out of the stranger's hands and throwing it over her shoulder, letting it tumble gently down her back to her waist.

"These… these rings," he said, pulling on a stray piece that was hanging by Leah's cheek.  "They are so… strange."

"Strange?!" exclaimed Leah, insulted.  Her hair color and shape were not common, especially together, but she had never heard it called strange!  "I beg your pardon, Mr… I don't even know what your name is!  Do you want to know something strange about yourself?  Well, what's up with these tattoos on your face?"  Leah reached up to touch them with her fingertips, and winced as she felt electricity flowing through them at the contact of her body with a man's.  "Nobody in their normal frame of mind walks around with little black symbols on their cheeks!  So if my _curls_ are strange, then your tattoos are even _stranger_!"

Ardeth opened his mouth to argue back, but Rick interrupted, busting up into laughter.

Leah glared at her brother.  "Excuse me, Rick, did I miss something?"

Rick just continued to laugh as he urged his camel on to check on Alex a few yards ahead.

Leah stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest and looked straight ahead.  She and Ardeth were quiet for a few minutes, until suddenly she felt a tug on her head.  She turned quickly.  "Would you please _kindly_ stop touching me, Mr… whatever your name is?"

Ardeth pulled his hand quickly from the tempting tresses in front of him.  "I am sorry, this just fascinates me.  Our women do not have hair of this color, and they do not have these… what do you call them… curls?"

"_Yes_, my hair is curly, okay?"  Leah knew she was being mean, but the man sitting behind her on this horse was really starting to unnerve her.  After all, the last man that had admired and stroked her hair was Andrew and he had broken her heart.  "Get over it already, Mr… I _still_ don't know what your name is!"

"Ardeth," said the dark haired man with the tattoos, leaning closer to her and placing his head on her shoulder so his mouth was right next to her right ear.  "Ardeth Bay.  And what is yours, Bent Hair?"

Leah pursed her lips at her new nickname, but did not force Ardeth to move.  Something just felt so right about how he was sitting with her, but she would never admit it.  Instead, she answered Ardeth's question.  "My name is Leah, not Bent Hair.  It is a perfectly fine name, and I wish you would use it.  And by the way, is this how you normally hit on women?"

"I do not know," said Ardeth.  "What is 'hit on'?  I do not know what it means.  And I shall call you Leah, though I am quite partial to Bent Hair."

Leah just glared at him and turned to face the desert spread out in front of her.  Slowly, her eyes began to drift shut as sleep overcame her.

Another man on a horse rode up next to Leah and Ardeth.  Ardeth and the warrior conversed in another language, and then the warrior rode away.

"Wow," said Leah, shaking herself awake, unable to understand any of the words that had just been said in front of her.  She had always thought of herself as well versed in foreign languages.  She excelled not only in her native tongue of English, but in French, Italian, German, Latin, Portuguese, and even Japanese.  But the language she had just heard was none of those.  "Like, what nationality are you, exactly?"

"We are Medjai," Ardeth said simply as the cluster of horses and camels rode through the desert night.  "Now, we must ride all night to reach our destination by daylight.  I suggest that you rest now, while you can."

"What's that supposed to mean?  While I can?" asked Leah indignantly, confused beyond belief at what had happened in the last couple of hours, but feeling sleep returning.

"Do not ask questions," said Ardeth softly.  "You will find out soon enough."

Leah felt herself drift to sleep, but not before she felt Ardeth's hands slip back around her waist and pull her close.  She would have protested, except that she was too tired to care, and so she laid her head on his broad chest and let slumber overcome her.

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"Why did it happen?  I don't understand," commented Evelyn early the next afternoon as she, Rick, and Ardeth sat around a small table in the suite they had just rented at a hotel in Thebes, about a six-hour camel's ride from the ruins they had left so quickly.

"That part is easy," said Rick.  "Our little friend decided that since he couldn't have his back-stabbing girlfriend that he should at least have our newfound princess all to himself.  The question is, why does he want her?"

"That part is even easier," Evelyn answered her husband.  "Everyone thinks that Samir-hi was Rathshad's daughter, Seti's niece.  But there were rumors—very concealed, not well publicized rumors-- that most Egyptians thought were false but could very well be true and would explain why Imhotep has come after Samir-hi."

"Samir-hi was not Rathshad's daughter," said Ardeth matter-of-factly.

"That's right," said Evelyn.  "There was a myth that Alshirem, Samir-hi's mother, had been having an affair with Imhotep.  Alshirem died while birthing Samir-hi, so there was never any living person who knew for sure that Samir-hi was Imhotep's daughter, except for Imhotep himself.  He never came forward for fear of—well, we all know what happened with Anck-su-namun, just imagine that, only worse."

"Well, that's just great," Rick said, setting his scotch down and standing up.  "But the even bigger question is, why did our little friend rise from the dead again?  After all, you promised me no more mummies, Evelyn!"

"Well, uh, that I don't know," said Evelyn guiltily.  She looked apologetically at her husband, and then set her sights onto Ardeth.  "But I'm sure _he_ knows.  Otherwise, why would he have shown up in the middle of an abandoned desert at three o'clock in the morning?  Do you care to enlighten us, Mr. Bay?"

"It was those men, wasn't it?" asked Rick before Ardeth could answer.  He began to pace.  "Those stupid, low-down drunken men who were running across the desert in the dead of night, nearly killing _my_ family!  Why did they do it this time?"

"The legend of Samir-hi is very complicated… her father Rathshad and his twin brother Seti the first often disagreed over who was the rightful ruler of Egypt.  Seti, being the older twin, was given the throne, but Rathshad often thought that his brother's beliefs were too strict and wrong," explained Ardeth.

"Like Seti's belief in keeping Jewish slaves," offered Evelyn.

"Correct," confirmed Ardeth.  "That was the main reason that Rathshad started the civil war.  The country was divided, one part siding with Seti, the other part with Rathshad.  Samir-hi was instrumental in gathering support for Rathshad, as she was a good orator and people seemed to like her personality.  She felt strongly about her cause, and crusaded heavily with her father, lobbying for followers.  And when the war started, Samir-hi felt so strongly that she disguised herself as an Egyptian warrior and fought in the war."

"She was killed in the Battle of Rathshad," broke in Evelyn.  "And while the war raged on, Rathshad's army contracted an awful disease that killed over a hundred men a day.  Which is the main reason Rathshad lost the civil war.  We _know_ all of this already!"

"No, we don't," said Rick, who was still pacing.  "This is all news to me!"  He looked over at Ardeth.  "What does any of this have to with why those stupid men in the desert raised Imhotep?"

"It was rumored that when Samir-hi died, Rathshad built a grand pyramid for her to house her body and her belongings.  In her tomb, he placed an emerald that Samir-hi's mother had left to her daughter to be given to her on her twentieth birthday," Ardeth continued.

"The birthday that she never had," whispered Evelyn.

"Correct.  After she was buried, Imhotep—

"Her _real_ father," interrupted Evelyn.

"Oh, not that guy again," moaned Rick, rubbing his temples as he continued his circle around the room.

"Imhotep opened up her tomb and attempted to resurrect his beloved daughter.  However, the god Anubus interfered and Imhotep's plan of bringing her back to the living was halted.  In his grief, he promised that he would be back to resurrect her some day, and he cast a curse upon the emerald of Alshirem, to keep grave robbers out of the tomb until he could return.  He then joined Seti's court, met Anck-su-namun, and we know the rest of the story."

"What curse did he cast, exactly?" asked Rick.

"The curse of the Hapti Res," Evelyn put in, standing up and walking over to a leather bag she had flung onto a small table by the door to the suite.  She retrieved a book and sat back down at the table, next to Ardeth.  Rick continued pacing.  "It's a biological curse.  There's a chapter in this book about it.  Who ever comes in contact with an object that has this curse placed upon it will suffer from a nasty, horrible disease that was wiped out with Rathshad's army and hasn't been seen in almost four thousand years.  Rathshad contracted it after the war was over, and it eventually killed him.   The moment he breathed his last, the entire city of Rathshad sank into the sands of the desert, never to be seen again, and with it went this contagious disease."

"So _why _were we digging around in this pyramid?" asked Rick.  "I'm not sure about you, but I really don't want to die of some ancient sickness!"

"It's just a myth," said Evelyn.  "I don't believe that there is any truth in it."

"You said that about our dear friend Imhotep, and look what happened there!" said Rick.

"I am afraid there is much truth in this story," Ardeth said.  "It is very real.  We, the Medjai, protect the Pyramid of Samir-hi, so that this disease is not unleashed into a world that is not immune as the Egyptians were.  This emerald, if it gets into the wrong hands, could bring about an epidemic that could wipe out over half of the world's population."

"_That's_ why these men were out there digging around in the pyramid!" said Evelyn.  "They think that by wiping out the population, that they can rule the world."

"Oh, great, the old 'take over the world' ploy," muttered Rick.  (A/N: I'm sure you all recognize that line from _The Mummy Returns_… I believe it was Jonathan who said it—don't hold me to that, I can't remember for sure who said it, and I don't feel like destroying my house to find the DVD-- I just love the line so much that I had to put it in my story!).

"But weren't they afraid of catching the disease themselves?" asked Evelyn, still paging through her book.  Rick continued pacing.

"That is why they raised the creature," Ardeth said.  "Imhotep is the only one who knows exactly where the emerald is, and he also has natural immunities to the disease.  What you saw last night was the beginning—and the end—of the men's search for the jewel.  Because--"

"Because our friend began to regenerate last night," Rick finished for Ardeth.  "He took his first sacrifice, and then brought on the wave of locusts.  That's what we happened to be in the middle of last night.  And now he wants to resurrect this princess and take over the world."

"We must stop this before it happens," said Ardeth.  "Before it is too late."

"We?  What's this 'we' stuff?" asked Rick.  (A/N: yes, this is also from _The Mummy Returns_… I just couldn't help myself, I love how Rick said this in the movie and so it just had to be in my story too!).  "I don't remember a 'we' being in this."

Evelyn, who had been paging through the book in her hands, shook her head.  "It's all beginning to make sense now."  Her hands stopped moving through her book suddenly as she came across a full page picture of a young Egyptian woman.  "Rick, look at this," she said.

Rick stopped pacing and came to look over his wife's shoulder.  "Yeah?  So?  It's a picture of Princess Samir-hi.  Big deal."

Ardeth heard this and he stood as well to look over Evie's other shoulder.  "It is a big deal, I am afraid, my friend," he said.

"Why?" asked Rick.

 "Well, doesn't she look familiar?" asked Evelyn softly.  "Like someone we know?"

Rick looked closely at the picture, intrigued.

Suddenly, the door to one of the two bedrooms of the suite banged open.  "Good morning, all," Leah said as she entered the dining room, looking fairly fresh for having been nearly trampled to death and riding on a horse all night.  "Hi, Rick, Evelyn—oh, it's you," she said to Ardeth.  She saw him staring intently at her, and pursed her lips, beginning to get angry.  "So what is it this time?  My ears are too pointy?  My knees are too knobby?  My eyes are too close together?  What?"

Nobody said anything.  Instead, Evelyn just held out the book to Leah.

Leah inched forward until she was standing in front of Rick, Evelyn, and Ardeth.  She glanced at all three of them, confused, and then took a look at the picture that Evie was holding in front of her.  Leah gasped as she realized that she was looking at a picture of herself.


	6. Memories

            For all of my reviewers, and also for those of you who are too scared to push the little purple button but are reading this anyway (although you shouldn't be scared because I don't bite!) here is chapter 6 of my story!  I am really pleased on how this chapter turned out, even though I had to rewrite the beginning part of it a second time because my computer crashed and I lost the first draft.  But it's okay now!  Special thanks to everyone who reviewed… DangerousMutantxXx004, lilylynn, and immortalwizardpirateelf-fan, my most faithful reviewers, and also to onesoul-onemind.  You guys are the greatest, and you are some of the biggest reasons I am continuing this story (although I'm also doing it for myself because it's sort of fun to do).

            Also, the title of the story _We Are Family_ is still a working title… if any of you can come up with something better, I'd love to hear it, since the current title is kind of cheesy and sounds like that disco song that the Village People sang.

            Okay, I think that's it for the little author's monologue, so here is what you came for!

Chapter 6 Memories

            "Th-That's me," Leah stuttered.  "I mean, it's me, but it's not!  I mean--"

            Rick barely got the chair underneath Leah's body as she flopped heavily into it, raising her hand to her mouth in shock.

            "Leah, you okay?" Rick asked.  "Lee?"

            Leah's eyes glazed over as her mind flew to another world, a world that existed over four thousand years ago.

_            "Daddy!  Daddy, look what I found!"  The little girl dashed through the long line of guards keeping watch outside her father's palace, her face smudged with dirt.  "Look!"  She dashed inside, where her father was reclining in a chair, servants surrounding him, fanning him with giant palm branches.  "Aren't they pretty?"_

_            The pharaoh's brother moved his hands, motioning his servants away.  His daughter stepped forward, her open palm held out in front of her, her eyes shining with excitement.  "What do you have, Samir-hi?" he asked._

_            Samir-hi grinned happily.  "Pretty rocks," she said quickly in her native Egyptian language, offering her daddy her findings.  "See?  This one is really shiny and black."  She held out the one she was speaking of.  "And this one looks almost red!  And this one is gold!"_

_            "Where did you find these, my daughter?" Rathshad asked._

_            "In the garden," Samir-hi answered, hardly able to contain herself.  "Aren't they beautiful?"_

_            Rathshad smiled happily at the red-haired child, dirt smeared on almost every visible part of her body.  "Yes, they are."  He paused, then said, "Do you want to know something, Sam?"_

_            "Yes, Daddy, of course I do," said Samir-hi solemnly._

_            Rathshad held out his arms and Samir-hi jumped excitedly into them.  He enveloped young Samir-hi into a big bear hug.  "You remind me of your mama," he said, his mouth next to her ear as he spoke.  "You look and act just like her."_

_            "Really?" asked Samir-hi.  She looked up into her father's face, her green eyes big.  "Can you tell me a story?  Tell me a story about my mama?  Please, please, please?" she begged._

_            "Of course I can," said Rathshad.  "Let's start with the day you were born."_

            "Leah?" asked Rick, standing from his chair and going to his sister.  "Leah, what's wrong?"  Rick looked to his wife and exchanged a worried look with her.  "Lee, answer me!  Please!"

_            "Shh," he said to Rathshad's daughter.  "I have something for you."  He reached into his robes, fumbling inside for the object he was searching for._

_             "What is it?" eleven-year-old Samir-hi asked her father's priest, confused as to why he had taken her to this unoccupied room in the palace.  She wasn't sure that she trusted this man, but he was her father's right hand servant, and so she had gone with him._

_            "This," Imhotep said softly, holding his hand out.  He opened his palm to reveal a glistening sapphire hanging from a long silver chain._

_            "It's beautiful," Samir-hi breathed, stepping forward.  She looked at it, amazed as the sun shone from the skylights above, glinting off the dark blue surface of the jewel._

_            "It is for you," Imhotep whispered as he slipped the sapphire around Samir-hi's neck.  He gently lifted her hair and fastened the necklace._

_            "Me?" Samir-hi asked incredulously.  "For me?  But why?  I don't understand," she said._

_            "It is a gift.  But you mustn't tell who gave it to you," Imhotep said softly._

_            "Why not?" Samir-hi asked, confused at the whole situation.  She couldn't understand why her father's priest, a man she barely knew, was giving her such an exquisite gift and swearing her to secrecy about it._

_            "Shh!  I hear Arhoseth coming.  You must not tell a soul, Samir-hi," Imhotep warned urgently._

_             Samir-hi saw a strange look on Imhotep's face, one that she swore she saw sometimes on her father's face when he looked at her.  She nodded quickly as her dark haired bodyguard, Arhoseth, entered the room.  "I won't tell if you won't tell."_

_             "We must make it known that we do not agree with this unfair law," sixteen year old Samir-hi said to the intrigued crowd gathered around her.  "The Jews are our brothers, and we must stand up for them, and for their rights as human beings.  They do not deserve to be unfairly enslaved; they deserve to have the freedom that every man, woman, and child in Egypt has!  Seti may be my uncle, but I do not agree with his unfair belief.  We must stand up and speak out, and let it be known to whoever may listen that it is wrong to keep the Jews, our brothers, as our slaves!  Who will join me in my crusade?"_

_            The crowd cheered loudly, whole-heartedly agreeing with her.  However, one man that didn't leaped towards the front and onto the platform Samir-hi was standing on.  He lunged at her, but just before he reached her, Arhoseth appeared, warding off the attacker.  As Arhoseth's men, the Medjai, or Egyptian police, led the assailant away, Samir-hi took her bodyguard's hands and pulled him towards her.  "Thank you, Arhoseth," she said._

_            "Anything for you, my Samir-hi," Arhoseth replied, and their lips met._

            "Leah?" Rick asked anxiously.

            Evelyn stood and went to her husband's side, wondering what was going on in her sister-in-law's head.  She thought she might know the answer to that, but she kept her mouth shut, not sure if she should speak it out loud.

_            "No!  Samir-hi!" Rathshad shouted.  But he was too late.  Seti's soldier plunged his sword into nineteen-year old Samir-hi's side.  She fell to the ground, blood gushing from her abdomen._

_            Rathshad, pharaoh of the new founded kingdom of Ikata, dashed to his daughter.  "Samir-hi!  No, Samir," he said as he fell to his knees next to her._

_            "Father," Samir-hi murmured.  "Please, leave me here."_

_            "Shh, do not speak," Rathshad said soothingly, slipping his arms around his daughter.  "We must get you to the medics."  He gently began to lift her._

_            Samir-hi gasped as she was lifted a few inches off the desert sand.  "Oh, Daddy, it hurts," she moaned.  "It hurts so bad."  Her eyes closed as pain washed over her.  "Please, just leave me."_

            "Leah!" Rick screamed as his sister cried out, grabbing her side.  He reached out his hands to her, wanting to help as she gasped for air.

            "No!" Ardeth said quickly.  "You must not disturb her!  She must remember it all!"

            Rick's hands stopped moving towards Leah, and he looked on in horror.

_            "I cannot," Pharaoh Rathshad said, lowering Samir-hi.  "I cannot, and I will not!"_

_            "Yes, you must," Samir-hi breathed through parched lips.  "You must.  It is time for me to go.  Mother has come to take me."_

_            "If you must go, then I must go," Rathshad said, and he stood, unsheathing his sword.  He raised it above himself._

_            "No!  Father, no," Samir-hi said weakly.  "Don't do it.  You must go on!  You must fight!  The battle is not yet lost; you must leave me here and go on!"_

_            "No!" Rathshad screamed, poised and at the ready to take his own life._

_            "It is too late for me," the red-haired beauty whispered.  "But it is not too late for the cause.  You must fight for what we believe in, Father.  Please.  Do it for me."_

_            Rathshad stared into his daughter's pleading eyes, his heart breaking.  "As you wish, my daughter," he finally bit out, and he collapsed over her body._

_            "It will be okay, Father," Samir-hi said softly, stroking her fingers through the Ikatan pharaoh's hair.  "I promise you, it will be."  Slowly, her breathing shallowed, and her fingers stopped moving, until the fair Princess of Ikata breathed her last._

            Leah's head flopped violently over the back of the chair she was in.  She gasped in a breath, and then began to look around her, taking in the walls, the windows, and the furniture of the room.

            "It is over," Ardeth said.

            When Rick heard this, his hands quickly reached out to grab Leah's.  "Lee?  Lee, are you okay?"

            She was still looking around the room, taking in every object in the room.  Then she finally realized that her brother was looking at her expectantly.  She slowly nodded her head.  "What happened?" she asked softly.

            "You don't remember?" Evelyn asked patiently from next to Rick.

            Leah's eyebrows knitted together as she thought, and then she bobbed her head.  "Yes, I do.  I remember now."

            "And what do you remember?" Ardeth asked from where he was still sitting across from Leah.

            "Everything," Leah said slowly. "I remember everything."

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            "Are you sure she's going to be all right?  I'm just not sure that I can sleep knowing that some strange _thing_ will probably try to come after my little sister," Rick said as he and Evelyn were getting ready to go to bed in one of the two bedrooms of their suite in Thebes.

            "She'll be just fine," Evelyn said from where she sat at the vanity table, running a brush through her hair.  "Ardeth is camped out right outside her bedroom.  He'll protect her with his life."

            "And then what?" asked Rick.  "Imhotep grabs her and uses her as a sacrifice to bring back this princess chick, and we never see her again!"

            Evelyn set her brush down on the table and looked over her shoulder at her husband, who was standing by the dresser, loading every gun he owned with bullets and placing them in the drawers.  "Rick, if that would happen, she's in the bedroom right next door, all we'd have to do is run out of here and into her room.  Which I'm sure we _won't_ have to do.  Just relax."

            "How can I, when the walking dead is after my sister?"  One of the bullets in the shotgun he was trying to load jammed, and he unwedged it and threw it to the floor in disgust.

            Evelyn stood from her chair and walked over to her husband.  She grabbed the gun and set it down on the dresser top, taking his hands in hers.  "Rick, you've got to let it go.  She's less than twenty feet from us if she needs us, and with Ardeth keeping watch, she'll be fine!  Come on.  What do you say we get some sleep?"

            Rick surrendered, knowing that his wife was right.  "Okay.  But if I can't get to sleep, I'm out of here."

            "Fine," Evelyn said.  "But I'm not planning on doing much sleeping tonight, anyway."  She cupped Rick's face in her hands and planted a romantic kiss on his lips.

            "Really," said Rick, and he returned her kiss.  "What did you have in mind?"

            "Well," Evelyn said, pushing Rick's upper body with her arms until he was standing by the bed.  "A little of this…" she gave him a push, and he landed with a thud on the mattress, "and a little of this."  She crawled on top of him and began covering him in kisses.

            "I like how you think," Rick mumbled when he came up for air.

            "I do have pretty good ideas," Evelyn commented.

            The two of them curled up on the bed together, Rick holding Evelyn against him, just enjoying being together.

            Rick's mind wandered and he spoke out loud as he thought.  "I wonder what Leah is doing," he said.

            Evelyn looked up at her husband, a bit exasperated.  "I'm sure she's sleeping, like any normal person would be doing at this time of night.  She's fine.  Can't you just stop thinking about her for one minute?"

            "You don't understand, Evelyn."  Rick's hand stopped moving through Evelyn's hair as he talked.  "Leah is my sister.  I vowed always to protect her."  He paused, then went on.  "Our parents died about a year after she was born, and we were shipped from the States to Greece to stay with our godfather."  Rick shook his head as he remembered.  "I've never told anyone about this," he said.  "Not even you, Evelyn."

            Evelyn propped her head up on her hand and looked to Rick expectantly.

            "He hurt her.  Our godfather hurt her.  She was just a little baby.  She never did anything to him, but he hurt her.  I remember all those nights when he had finished beating her, and she sat on the floor of the room we shared and cried.  I always wondered, why did he hurt her, and never me?  Why did he hurt a defenseless little three-year old?"

            "I don't know," said Evelyn softly.  "Some people are just not right in the head."

            Rick shook his head in disgust.  "One of those nights, I decided that I had had enough of watching my sister suffer.  I vowed to protect Leah forever.  I took her, and we left our godfather's house.  I got us on a boat to Egypt, and when we arrived, we spent a few months living on the streets.  But then I got really tired of never having enough food for Leah to eat, and so I turned us in.  And for some reason, they didn't send us back to our godfather.  Some how, we ended up in the orphanage in Cairo.  I was so grateful that Lee and I weren't separated, until I turned eighteen and they made me leave because I was too old.  I stuck around in Egypt for Leah, wanting to be there to protect her like I had promised I would be… I got a job and worked fourteen hours a day, in hopes that some day I would have enough money and be granted guardianship of Leah.  Except that day never came, because when she was seven-years old, some long lost aunt of ours in the States decided that she wanted Leah, and so Lee was shipped back to New York City.  And I fell apart.  That's when I got involved with Beni and all of that shady business.  Until I met you.  You turned me around, got me facing the right way, gave me hope that I would see my sister again."  Rick smiled down at Evelyn.  "Have I ever thanked you for that?"

            Evelyn nodded.  "You do it every day by just being you," she said, running her hands across Rick's broad chest.  "By being a good husband to me and a good father to Alex."

            "And now, a good brother to Leah."  Rick looked across the room, then back down at Evelyn.  "Andrew broke her heart, and now she's got this Imhotep after her.  She needs me, Evelyn.  And I'm going to be there for her."

            "Fine, fine," Evelyn said.  "I'm not going to stop you.  But right now, let Ardeth be there for her, and you be here for me."  Rick opened his mouth to speak, but Evelyn put her fingers to his lips.  "Don't say anything."  She began to kiss him fervently.

            Rick gave in to his wife's demands, allowing his thoughts to drift from the danger the creature was posing to his sister to the situation at hand as he and Evelyn made passionate love.

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            Meanwhile, Leah was lying in bed, wide awake.  She couldn't get her mind to stop running over the memories she had so suddenly recalled that afternoon.  It was really starting to drive her crazy.

            "Ugh!" she said, sitting up and throwing the sheets off her.  She heard a thump outside the door to the bedroom and shook her head as she recognized the sounds of Ardeth loading a gun.  _Why do these macho men think I need my own personal security guard? _ _He should be next door in the room Jonathan and Alex are sharing.  Alex needs someone to guard him from Jonathan more than I need protection from that stupid jerk Empty or whatever his name is!_ She joked to herself. _ I can look after myself!_

            _I need something to drink_, she decided, and she flung her legs over the side of the bed, not bothering to flick on the lamp on the bedside table, figuring that the moonlight streaming in the window was enough for her.  She groped along, trying to find her way to the door.  However, she forgot about the crystal coffee table that sat at the foot of the bed, and her foot twisted around one of its wrought iron legs.  Before Leah could even blink, she fell to the floor with a crash, wincing as her left ankle, the one that had been caught on the table, twisted beneath her.

            "Oh, crap!" she said aloud as she lay splayed on her stomach, body parts in all directions.

            She heard a voice outside her room.  "Leah?  Leah, are you all right?"

            Leah was aware of the shooting pain in her ankle, and didn't answer right away.  She reached gingerly to her appendage and immediately realized that was a big mistake as even more pain shot through it.

            Suddenly, the door of the bedroom banged open.  Ardeth entered, his gun drawn.

            "Eeek!" shrieked Leah across the darkness of the room.  Her new bodyguard's unexpected entrance had scared the breath out of her.  Gasping, she spit out, "Holy crap, give a girl a heart attack, why don't you!"

            Ardeth reached to the lamp on the table by the door and flicked it on, his gun still pointed to the interior of the room.  He saw Leah sprawled on the floor and in no immediate danger and pocketed his weapon.  "What happened?" he asked quickly, coming to her side.

            Leah rolled her eyes.  "Nothing, nothing.  I'm fine," she said, putting her arms underneath her and lifting herself.  Ardeth offered her his hand, but she was a tough girl and didn't need his help.  "I got it, I got it," she said, pushing herself to her feet.  Just as she did, her ankle began to throb even more, and her feet flew out from under her.

            "Are you sure about that, Bent Hair?" Ardeth asked as his arms went deftly around her waist, catching her before she hit the floor again.

            Leah sighed, annoyed.  However, she had no choice but to allow Ardeth to fling her into the air and carry her to the bed.  As he did so, another one of her memories came flooding back to her.

            _"Well, princess of Ikata, I see that you need me after all," Arhoseth said, carrying eighteen-year old Samir-hi._

_            Samir-hi jutted her jaw stubbornly.  "I do not," she said in ancient Egyptian.  "I could have gotten here myself."_

_            "Really," Arhoseth said as he placed his charge on the bed and pulled the thick blankets around her.  "And how do you propose you would have done that?  A broken foot is not easy to walk on."_

_            "Well, I still have one good foot," Samir-hi shot back, but her tone was light and teasing.  She held out her index finger to her bodyguard and beckoned him with it.  Arhoseth came and settled over Samir-hi, straddling her body._

_            "Kiss me," she ordered her lover._

_            "Your wish is my command," Arhoseth said._

            Leah shook her head, willing the memory to go away.

            "What is it?" Ardeth asked as he placed her on the bed.

            Leah just shook her head again.  "Nothing for you to worry about," she said.

            Ardeth did not reply to that comment.  Instead, he said, "Which one is it?"

            "What?" asked Leah, her mind still turning in circles over what that last memory of Samir-hi's meant.

            "Which foot did you hurt?" Ardeth asked.

            "Oh, uh, this one," Leah said, pointing to her left ankle.

            Ardeth lifted Leah ankle-length nightgown and reached out to touch the injured limb.

            "Eeesh," Leah said as his fingers came in gentle contact with her skin.  She glanced down and saw that her ankle was already swelled to twice its normal size and was turning a horrible purple color.  "Oh, great," she muttered, electricity flowing through her body as she thought about how it felt to have Ardeth touching her.  "I guess that means no more horseback rides with you," she said.  "Oh, darn," she added sarcastically.

            Ardeth ignored Leah, concerned with her swollen ankle.  "It is sprained," he said as he examined it.

            "And how would you know?  Are you a doctor?" Leah asked, trying to tear her mind off Ardeth's fingers as they probed her skin.

            "No, I am not a doctor," Ardeth said.  "But I do know quite a bit of… what do you call it… first aid?"

            "Oh," was all Leah could say, mesmerized as she watched him work.

            "Are you hurt anywhere else?" Ardeth asked as his hands groped further up her leg, feeling for other injuries.

            Leah felt herself begin to blush as Ardeth's hand continued touching her, all the way up to her thigh before it searched the other leg.  "Uh, no," she said shyly.  "Just the ankle."

            Ardeth nodded, all business.  "I must get some ice and something to wrap it in.  Will you be all right while I am gone?"

            Leah nodded, looking into his face.  _I never noticed how gorgeous his eyes are_, she thought to herself.  _Or, for that matter, how nice his nose is_.

            Ardeth left the room, and Leah looked around.  She closed her eyes, her latest memory of Samir-hi and Arhoseth running through her mind.  _How ironic is that_, she thought.  She leaned back against her pillows and closed her eyes, remembering.  The recollection was so vivid in her mind that she thought she could almost feel Arhoseth stroking her cheek.

            "Samir-hi," she heard a voice say, the fingers still on her cheek.

            "Yes?" she asked breathlessly in ancient Egyptian.

            "Samir-hi, my daughter, I have come for you, just as I promised."

            _Wait, that isn't right_, Leah thought.  _Arhoseth wouldn't call Samir-hi his daughter_.

            Leah's eyes opened quickly, and she came face-to-face with a half-regenerated, gooey mummy.  Imhotep was sitting on the bed with her, his eyes looking tenderly into hers.

            "Samir-hi, my daughter," Imhotep said in his low mummy-like voice, reaching out to take her hand.

            Leah let her vocal chords go wild, screaming bloody murder.  "Oh!  My!  God!" she shrieked.  "Let!  Me!  Go!  Now!"  Leah began to move herself across the bed with her hands, wishing now that she was not such a klutz and hadn't tripped over that coffee table.  She lowered her feet to the floor, wincing as some of her weight accidentally fell on her injured foot.  Then she began to hop on one foot towards the door, screaming her head off.

            Imhotep zoomed to the foot of the bed as Leah stopped by the cursed coffee table, attempting to regain her balance.  "Samir-hi, my daughter, do you not remember me?" he said, his cardboard-like thumb touching her cheek.

            "Don't touch me!" she cried in his face.  "And I'm not your daughter!"  She began to hop again, trying to get around Imhotep, but lost her balance and fell face first to floor.

            "Samir-hi, I have come for you!"  Imhotep squatted down next to Leah and put his arms around her, picking her up.  "We are going to complete the ritual!"

            "No!  I don't want any ritual!  Rick!  Ardeth!  _Evelyn_!" Leah cried as Imhotep carried her to the window.  Leah screamed again.

            Suddenly, Ardeth burst into the room, followed closely by Rick and Evelyn, all three with guns drawn.

            "Let her go, you bastard!" Rick shouted.  "Let her go, or I'll--"

            "Kill me?" asked Imhotep in ancient Egyptian, laughing.  "I'm already dead."  With that, he opened the first floor window and pushed Leah through it.

            Rick lunged at the window as Ardeth and Evelyn opened fire on Imhotep.  Of course, their mortal weapons had no effect on the half-regenerated mummy, but they thought they at least had to try.

            Imhotep walked towards Ardeth and Evelyn, their bullets and little pieces of Imhotep's gooey body bouncing off him.  He snapped his fingers, and about a dozen of his warrior mummies entered the room, marching in perfect step.  "_Now _do you want to mess with me?" Imhotep spoke in Egyptian.

            Evelyn and Ardeth turned and began shooting at the soldiers, taking them out one by one as Imhotep walked back towards the window, where Rick was standing.

            "Where is she?  What did you do with her?" Rick shouted at Imhotep, his gun still poised in his hands.

            "That is for me to know and you to never find out," Imhotep said with an evil laugh, and then he jumped out the window and into the night.

            "Leah!" Rick cried, and he pointed his gun out the window and began shooting at Imhotep as he walked arrogantly down the streets of Thebes, several of his soldier mummy sidekicks following.

            "A little help, Rick!" Evelyn suddenly shouted, and Rick turned to find his wife punching one mummy, another mummy holding onto her back.  Ardeth was wrestling four of them at once, kicking one, punching another, whacking another with the butt of his gun, and then hitting the fourth with his head.

            Rick attacked the mummy on top of Evelyn.  The mummy fell to the floor, and then Rick sent a bullet straight through his head.

            With half of the original dozen of the warrior mummies gone, the other six jumped into formation and took one look at Evelyn, Rick, and Ardeth, their jaws dropping to the floor as they roared.

            Evelyn, Rick, and Ardeth, in sync with each other, dropped their jaws as far as they would go and roared right back at the mummies.

            The warriors turned in fear and ran quickly, still in step with each other, towards the window.  They all jumped and ran down the street after their leader.

            The three people left in the room ran to the windowsill and looked out across Thebes.

            Only one of them spoke.  "Leah…" Rick said.


	7. Escape!

Here you go! Chapter 7 of the story! As usual, huge thank yous go out to my faithful reviewers, lilylynn and Empathy Is Me (a.k.a DangerousMutantxXx004). And as always, you guys make me feel really good about what I am doing. Thanks for your support! And thanks to The eGyPtian Scribler for also reviewing, I am glad you like this fic, and I as I've told the others, as long as you guys like this story, I'll continue it!

            Also, sorry about the formatting… I'm having a little trouble getting it to look right. It looks fine on my computer, but as soon as I upload it, it goes all screwy! I hope that when you are all reading this, it finally looks okay, but sorry if it doesn't, I'll keep working on it.

Chapter 7   Escape!

            Leah was coming around slowly, and when she finally opened her eyes, she found herself in a room with just one small twin bed shoved into a corner, a small window above it. Moonlight streamed in, illuminating the otherwise dark room, and Leah saw four ugly men surrounding her.

            "She's awake," one whispered to the other three.

            Leah turned her head towards the voice and then jumped quickly as she felt a prick in her side. "Ouch!" she said, looking down at herself. She saw one of the ugly men quickly pulling a long dark brown stick from her flesh. "You idiot!" she cried, grabbing onto the end of the stick, wrenching it from the aggressor. She was about to stand up and give him a good whack when she realized that she couldn't move her arms, or any other part of her body. She was tied to the chair she was sitting in, thick rope wrapped around her thighs and upper body. "Hey! What's up with this?" she asked, moving her shoulders back and forth, trying to get out of the ropes.

            The ugly men cackled at her.

            "Hey! Get me out of here!" she screamed, pulling at the tightly knotted binds. "Let me go!"

            The ugly people continued to laugh as Leah attempted to free herself. After about ten seconds, Leah burst into tears, frustrated. "Please," she sobbed. "Please, just let me go. Please!"

            The ugly people stopped laughing suddenly as a shadow passed over them, the door to the tiny room banging open.

            "Who did this?" a low voice asked sternly in Egyptian from behind Leah.

            The ugly men cowered in fear.

            "I asked, who did this?"

            Leah turned her head slightly, and out of the corner of her eye, saw a tall, muscular man, his head completely shaved.

            The men all pointed at each other.

            "Ahhhh!" shrieked the bald guy, raising his hands and lifting the four men into the air.

            Leah screamed, shocked. _This must be Imhotep! He is fully regenerated now!_ she thought.

            "You will pay for this!" Leah heard Imhotep say. "You will all pay for this!"

            "No! Stop!" Leah screamed, twisting around in the chair as far as she could go. "Please! Don't hurt them!" she said, her ancient Egyptian impeccable as she spoke.

            "And why not?" Imhotep said to Leah, coming to stand beside her.

            "Because! You shouldn't go around hurting people just because you feel like it!" Leah said. "It's not right!"

            Imhotep stared at Leah for a few seconds, and then abruptly his hands fell to his sides and the men hanging in the air tumbled to the ground with large _thuds_.

            The men all stood, screaming in fright, and ran from the room as quickly as their legs could move them.

            Leah sighed, shaking her head, trying to figure how exactly she had gotten into this room, and maybe how exactly she had gotten into this entire situation.

            Imhotep stared angrily after the ugly men, then knelt in front of Leah, pulling at the knots that restrained her. "I am sorry, Samir-hi," he said. "My servants are not very competent."

            _What am I supposed to say to that?_ Leah thought to herself. _Am I supposed to tell him that it's okay? Because it's _not_ okay! _She said nothing, not sure what to tell the man standing in front of her.

            "You are just like Alshirem," Imhotep said as pulled at the rope, unwrapping the piece that had held Leah's abdomen in place. "You truly are your mother's daughter."

            Leah still didn't reply as Imhotep worked at the knots around her thighs and legs, finally releasing her. Leah flexed her knees and elbows, testing out her joints.

            Imhotep straightened and stood directly in front of Leah, where she was still sitting in the chair. "And you are my daughter, too."

            Leah realized that her best bet would be to go along with whatever the regenerated mummy wanted for now, until she could think of a better plan. Still, she couldn't resist burning off a little of her resentment. "No, I'm not your daughter, you disgusting, ancient, _ugly_, lying, bald, two-timing, insane, unfaithful purple zebra!" Leah cried out in English, throwing every insulting word she could think of together.

            Imhotep looked at Leah, not understanding the words she had said, but understanding the tone she had used. "You are angry, my daughter," said Imhotep. "Why?"

            Leah took a breath, forcing herself to calm down, knowing that playing along with Imhotep's charade may be her only saving grace. She let out the air in her lungs slowly, then formed these words in the mummy's language. "I am sorry, Father," she said. "I am angry. Those horrible, awful men tied me up, and it made me angry."

            Imhotep looked lovingly into Leah's eyes, and she almost felt sorry for toying with the creature's emotions, that is, if the undead could actually feel. "I will take care of them," he answered Leah. "Nobody hurts my Samir and gets away with it."

            "Do not hurt them," Leah said. "Please, do not hurt them."

            "For you, I will not hurt them physically. But they will hurt in other ways," said Imhotep. He extended his hand to Leah. "Come, my daughter."

            Leah looked at his hand, debating on if she should accept his offer, and then took it, noting that it felt just like a normal human hand. He pulled her to her feet.

            Leah had forgotten about the injury to her ankle. When she put her weight on her left foot, it flew out from under her, leaving her in a heap on the floor of the room.

            "Samir-hi," Imhotep said worriedly, "are you hurt? Did they hurt you?"

            Leah shook her head quickly. "Uh, no, no, they did not hurt me, I hurt myself," she said, sitting up and rubbing her sore ankle, remembering that Ardeth had not yet gotten around to wrapping it up for her. "Uh, Father, I believe I must see a doctor."

            Imhotep shook his head. "You cannot," he said. "We must leave for Rathshad at day break for the ceremony. You must rest now. I will carry you to your bed." The human-like creature knelt and lifted Leah, carrying her across the room to the bed. He laid her on it with great care and pulled the blankets up to her chin. "Sleep tight, my daughter," he said. He attempted to kiss her cheek, but Leah turned her head quickly so that all he got was a mouthful of hair.

            "Good night, Father," Leah said stiffly.

            "Good night, Samir-hi," Imhotep said, and he walked the ten feet to the other side of the room where the door was.

            _My name is Leah, not Samir-hi!_ Leah felt like screaming at Imhotep as he shut the door behind him. She heard a lock sliding into place, barring the exit. _You stupid mummy jackass!_ she added in her head. Lying flat on the bed, she raised her hands to her cheeks and began to think. _I have to get out of here. I don't even know where I am, if I'm still in Thebes or if I'm in Russia or Japan! But getting out of this room is the only way I'm going to survive, because obviously, this Empty guy won't let me go, since he thinks I'm his daughter and wants to perform some ritual on me. So, the question is, how do I do it? How do I free myself? I can't use the door…_ Leah looked up above the head of the bed and saw the tiny two feet by two feet window. _I'll have to use the window_, she decided. She sat up in the bed and tossed the sheets off her body, putting her legs over the side. She stood on her good foot and looked out the window into the night, then flopped miserably back onto the bed. _Okay, bad idea_, she thought. _There is no way that I can climb from a fourth story window to the ground with my bad foot. New plan_.

            Leah situated herself so that she was lying on the bed again, her mind running a hundred miles a minute. She thought back over the events of the last day, until she got to the part of being tied to the chair in this room and being poked with a stick. _That's it!_ she thought happily. She tumbled quickly out of the bed, putting a bump on her shin in the process. She began to crawl to the center of the small room until she felt the hard wood of the chair in her hands. Feeling around in the darkness, she located the long strands of rope and the thick four feet long stick that the ugly man had poked her with and that Imhotep had left just lying in the middle of the room.

            Now armed with the objects that she hoped would free her, she gingerly crawled back towards the bed, her left foot beginning to throb. _This has to work_, she thought as she dragged herself onto the bed, depositing her prizes. _It has to_.

            A few minutes later, Leah sat admiring her handiwork. "Thanks a lot, Rick," she said out loud. "I thought you were just being stupid when you taught me how to tie a slipknot, but I guess it really _does_ come in handy." She couldn't help but smile as she fingered the tight knots holding the pieces of rope together, reminiscing back to when she was five and Rick was seventeen and they were still together at the orphanage in Cairo.

            She moved quickly, tying one of the free ends to one of the brass bedposts and the other end around her waist. _Never been bungee jumping before, but now's as good a time as any to learn_ , she thought as she waded across the bed to the window. She looked over her shoulder at the room behind her, making sure that she was still alone. Then she rose up on her knees, wincing as her bad ankle twisted a little. "Grin and bear it, Leah," she said through clenched teeth as she lifted the window open. "Grin and bear it."

            She grabbed the stick and hauled it to the window, tossing it out the opening. She cringed when she heard the distant thump as it made contact with the ground four stories down.

            There was a crash outside the door to the room she was trapped in as men began moving about in the hall, having heard the disturbance.

            "Not a good sign," she mumbled to herself. She heard the lock moving. "_Definitely _not a good sign." She hoisted herself to the head of the bed and reached up to the windowsill above it, pulling herself up so that her upper body was hanging outside. She heard the knob of the door turning, and sending a prayer heavenward, she pushed as hard as she could against the bed with her good foot, sending herself sailing head first to the cold, hard ground below.

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            Ardeth Bay had been wandering around the city of Thebes for hours. He stopped outside a woodshop to catch his breath, noticing that the sky was lightening up and that dawn would be upon the city within the hour.

            _I must go on,_ he thought. _I must find Leah. It is my fault the creature found her, and so I must be the one to recover her._

            Though the Medjai leader was tired, having not had any decent sleep in almost two days, he left the shop, walking on, trying to find any signs of Rick's sister. Rick and Evelyn were also searching, as were Jonathan and Alex, leaving Ardeth on his own, just the way he liked it.

            Ardeth knew that once Imhotep had Leah, the mummy's next stop would be the city of Rathshad, where he would try to resurrect Samir-hi, putting her body with the soul that Leah carried within hers. From there, who knew what Imhotep's objective would be, but the main reason that the creature needed to be stopped was to keep the communicable disease that was within Samir-hi's tomb from being unleashed into a susceptible, unimmune population. And saving Leah's life was an added bonus to keeping Imhotep from raising the princess of Ikata. If that disaster could be averted, then the last step was to put the mummy back into his grave, where he would hopefully remain, dead, for all time.

            _Which is why I _must_ find Leah_, Ardeth thought as he walked, _so that we can concentrate on stopping him_. _The creature will not leave Thebes with her since I have posted some of my men on the lookout by the city gates, but they cannot remain on guard after daybreak, for fear of being too conspicuous. I _must Must MUST_ find Leah before dawn._

Ardeth walked along the main street of Thebes. As he did, he saw Leah's pretty freckled face in his mind's eye, her lips in a wide smile. He thought of her laugh, how it tinkled through the air like bells, and of her long curls. _I love her hair_, he thought absently to himself. _I love everything about her. I love _her_._

            Ardeth stopped walking suddenly. _I cannot love her. I hardly know her!_ he thought to himself, shaking his head. _My purpose with her is to protect her and keep her safe from the creature. I do not love her._

Still, as he walked he couldn't help but continue to think about her, her face painted in every corner of his brain. He strolled slowly down the street, his hand on the large gun by his side. He examined every face that came towards him, hoping that one of them would be Leah's. And every time, he was disappointed as he realized that none of them were.

            He searched with no luck until the sky was filled with light, announcing the beginning of a new day. Ardeth found a small tavern and ducked inside.

            "We're closed now," a bartender told Ardeth in Arabic from behind the counter as he wiped down the marble surface. "We'll be open tonight."

            Ardeth stopped just inside the door. "I am not here to drink. May I rest for a few minutes?"

            The bartender stopped moving the rag across the counter and looked Ardeth over, taking in the stranger's peculiar clothing and odd tattoos. He finally nodded. "Go ahead. But don't be long."

            Ardeth nodded. "Thank you, my good man."

            The bartender waved his hand carelessly at Ardeth and went back to his cleaning.

            Ardeth settled into a chair by the large window near the door. He stared out through the glass, looking over Thebes, watching as the city came alive and a new day started. He watched a storekeeper sweeping the sidewalk outside his shop. He saw a young woman buying some fruit at a stand just a few feet from where Ardeth sat. He observed several carriages moving through the street, the horses trotting daintily. A couple of automobiles were also in sight.

            Ardeth rested, wondering where Leah was, what she was doing, if she was okay. _Why do I care so much about her?_ he asked himself. _I just met her yesterday; I cannot have any feelings for her! Can I? _Ardeth shook his head, wishing that he had told the bartender he _had_ come for a drink. _What do I tell Rick when I go back to the hotel without Leah? She was _my _responsibility last night; it is my fault she is missing now. Rick will never forgive me for this.  _Leah_ will never forgive me for this_. Ardeth turned from the window and faced the table in front of him. He stared absentmindedly at it, memorizing every groove in its wooden surface. He did that for about five minutes, his mind wandering over Leah, praying that she was okay.

            The bell over the door tinkled as it opened.

            "We're closed, ma'am," the bartender called across the room to the intruder.

            Ardeth looked up quickly, his mood lifting for a split second, then falling.

            The dark-haired young woman from the fruit stand next door dipped her head in acknowledgement and turned away, going back out the door.

            Ardeth sighed, and as he looked back to the table, he saw, out of the corner of his eye, the bartender, shooting him an evil look. The Medjai knew that he had over-stayed his welcome, and so he stood, walking to the counter. He put his hand palm down on the countertop. "Thank you, friend," Ardeth said to the bartender, moving his hand from the tabletop to reveal the silver coin he had left. He moved out the door and stood under the overhang outside, still scanning the city. Then he shuffled his feet, heading towards the hotel.

            As Ardeth reached his destination, he heard a voice behind him saying his name.

            "Ardeth," the soft bell-like voice said.

            Ardeth turned, and his heart leaped with joy. "Leah!" he said, darting the few yards to where she was standing. "Leah, are you okay?" he asked as he reached her.

            Leah nodded, leaning heavily on her big brown walking stick.

            Ardeth reached his hand out to her, his heart swelling as he came in contact with her skin. He wondered what had happened to her, how she had escaped from the creature, but knew that this was not the time for these questions. "Are you sure you are okay?" he asked urgently.

            "That part doesn't matter," Leah told Ardeth, still leaning on her stick. "None of us will be okay if we don't stop him. He is going to destroy the world if we don't."

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Okay you all! You all know what to do! Push the pretty purple button and let me know what you think!


	8. It Must Be Love

Here it is, chapter 8! Sorry it took so long to get this up, I ran out of ideas for this chapter, and so it took me a while to come up with it. I think I know where I want this story to go, but I am completely open to suggestions. Let me know if any of you have an idea that you think would work well for this story!

As always, thanks go out to my reviewers, Empathy Is Me, Shlane, Sofia, Cindy, and of course Lilylynn. You guys are awesome!!

Oh, and by the way, I hereby dedicate this chapter to Lilylynn (a.k.a. Mrs. O'Connell, lol!). You are absolutely the greatest, and I really appreciate all of your encouragement!!! I really, really do! Look out, world! Because in 10 years, Lilylynn will be the next Rachel Weiss!!!

Anyways, here it is, chapter 8! Enjoy!

Chapter 8 It Must Be Love

His mind was playing tricks on him. Looking at the spot that she had occupied just five seconds ago, he shook his head and looked again. Yup, she was still gone. She had disappeared right before his eyes. Just like that, Leah was gone (A/N: Ha ha, fooled you all! You all thought she was rescued, but she wasn't!).

_She wasn't there in the first place_, Ardeth thought as he entered into the lobby of the hotel. _I wanted to see her so badly that I imagined her standing right in front of me._ Sighing in defeat, the Medjai leader turned down the hall that led to the two suites the O'Connells had rented. He entered the one he had been in the night before, where he was supposed to have been protecting Leah. _I failed miserably_, he thought to himself as he opened the door.

Evelyn was running around wildly as Ardeth walked in. "But I _need_ those books!" she was shouting as she tugged a large bag behind her.

_"No_, you don't," Rick yelled from their bedroom. "We need only the bare essentials!" He appeared in the doorway of the bedroom to Ardeth's left. "The only thing these books would be good for is fire wood!"

Evelyn gasped in horror. "You wouldn't!" she shouted as she stormed over to her husband, grabbing the stack of books out of his arms. "You wouldn't _dare_!"

Rick stamped his foot impatiently. "Evelyn, we don't have time for this! We've got to leave now!" He grabbed his wife's hand and tugged her into the bedroom. "Get your clothes together. And remember, essentials only."

Ardeth stood uncomfortably in the dining room, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, not sure what to do.

"Mom! Dad! Should I bring my ski boots?" Alex shouted from behind Ardeth, entering the suite.

"No!" Rick shouted back. "I _said_, bare essentials!"

"Okay, okay," Alex grumbled, backing out the door.

Ardeth sat in one of the chairs around the table, waiting for the family to be ready.

"Hello, old chap," Ardeth heard a voice say behind him. Jonathan appeared from the direction of the suite entrance and sat in the chair next to Ardeth. "So I see you didn't have any luck, either."

"What do you mean?" Ardeth asked.

"Finding Leah," Jonathan said carelessly.

"No, I did not find Miss Leah," Ardeth said.

Jonathan shrugged, not showing a bit of concern. "Ah, well, don't worry, she'll turn up eventually."

Ardeth did not answer because suddenly, Rick came thundering in just then, Evelyn hot on his heels. "Ardeth! Did you find her?" he asked, finally noticing that Ardeth was there.

"I did not, my friend," Ardeth said guiltily. "I am sorry."

"Fine," Rick said. "We leave in five minutes for Rathshad."

Evelyn grabbed Rick's elbow from behind.

"Evelyn, no! Lord knows where that undead bastard corpse has taken my sister. That is why we have to leave now, so we can search every corner of this earth if we have to!"

"He is right," Ardeth said. "We must go to Rathshad. We must stop him before it is too late."

"But we musn't rush into this!" Evelyn said. "We can't go unprepared! We must come up with a plan of action!"

"Fine! You can stay here and come up with this plan! My little sister is out there with this monster, and I vowed to always protect her! So I am going now, with or without you!" Rick looked hard at Evelyn, his eyes boring into hers. "Evelyn, if this was your brother out there, you'd be all for this."

Evelyn took a few seconds before answering. "You're right, you're right," she conceded finally. "Leah needs our help. And we're going to give it to her." She clapped her hands. "Let's go. Five minutes!" she said, turning and heading back to the bedroom.

Rick put his hands to his temples, massaging them as he settled into the chair next to Ardeth.

Nothing was said among the three men for a few moments. When the silence was lifted, Ardeth was the one who spoke first. "I am sorry," he said.

"Sorry for what?" Rick asked.

"It is my fault your sister is missing," Ardeth said. "I was supposed to protect her, and I failed. I am sorry."

Rick shook his head. "No, it's my fault. I should have been with her. I knew Imhotep would try to take her, and yet I did nothing. It's my fault."

"Well, as long as we're all blaming ourselves here, then it might as well be my fault, too," broke in Jonathan. "Although I don't know why it would be."

"Jonathan, could you _please_ just go find something better to do? Unless you're going to be of some assistance to us, then you should really just _shut-up_!" Rick said.

"Jeez, _some_body woke up on the wrong side of the bed," said Jonathan.

Rick started at his brother-in-law, his lips curved in an angry frown. He was about to say something when he changed his mind. "You know what, forget it. It's not worth it."

Alex came into the suite then, a small bag on his shoulders. "I'm all ready, Dad," he said as he came over to the table. "Hi, Uncle Jon, Ardeth. Is everyone ready to go?"

"Everyone but your mother," Rick told his son. "Why don't you go hurry her up a bit?"

"No need," Evelyn called, and she came out of the bedroom. "I'm ready when you are."

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Leah shook her head and opened her eyes, then closed them again as the world swam around in circles. "Oh, god," she muttered to herself. "I've got a heck of a hangover." Mustering all of her strength, she reopened her eyes and struggled to keep them there. "A _really_ bad hangover," she said, taking in the wall of sand stretching out in front of her. She managed to raise her aching head and take in other details, including the fact that she was laying slouched over the back of a fat camel, and that several other camels were traveling all around her.

"Good, you are awake, Samir-hi," a voice said behind her.

Leah groaned out loud. "Oh, god," she moaned, her head still aching as Imhotep rode up next to her. "What happened?" she asked.

"You took an unfortunate fall out of the window of your room in Thebes," Imhotep said. He raised his long fingered hand to his daughter's cheek. "You hit your head pretty hard on a large rock and were unconscious for quite some time. I am glad you are awake now." He caressed Leah's skin with his thumb. "You were not trying to run away from me, were you, my daughter?"

Her mind was still a bit foggy, but it was slowly becoming clearer. She remembered her escapade the night before, bungee jumping out of the window and attempting to escape. She remembered hitting the ground with a thud, the rope around her waist just short enough to keep her from completely killing herself. She remembered laying on the ground, dazed, her head aching from where she had hit it on a rock, as Imhotep's ugly men surrounded her. She had been too weak to protest as they carried her off into the night while she was slowly slipping into unconsciousness. The next thing she knew, she had woken up on this camel in the middle of the desert. She hung her head, knowing that whatever answer she gave to Imhotep's question would be wrong. "Where are we going?" she asked instead.

"We are going to Rathshad. You are finally going to become who you really are," Imhotep answered, his hand falling from Leah's face. He looked lovingly into her eyes. "I have waited a long time for this," he said softly. "For you to finally know that you are _my_ daughter, not Rathshad's."

"Let me guess. You've waited thousands of years, haven't you?" Leah asked sarcastically.

Imhotep nodded, not detecting Leah's tone. "Yes, I have. And we can finally be together, as we should have been long ago."

Leah turned her head the other way, too upset to listen to any more.

Imhotep would not admit it to anyone, but he was hurt at how the lovely little redhead had brushed him off. He could not understand why she treated him as she did. _I love her so much, _he thought to himself as he urged his camel forward. _She is my child, and all I want is for us to be happy together. Why can she not understand that I do not want to hurt her, I only want to love her? Why did she try to run away from me last night? Oh, Samir-hi, I love you so much it hurts!_

Leah could begin to feel herself burning in the desert sun. She remembered back to when she and Evelyn had been sitting in their tent at their campsite in Rathshad, before all of this had started, and they had talked about working on their tans. _I didn't want to work on it this way_, Leah thought as she felt her lips protesting in pain, as she licked the dryness out of them. Her head was still pounding with its headache, and add to that all of this the desert heat, and you can imagine how miserable Leah really was. _It's so hot… I've got to get out of here_, she thought to herself. _But I can't. I can't see straight thanks to this awful headache, and I if I could, I wouldn't be able to walk straight, thanks to my ankle, and…_ her mind trailed off. _I'm going to die. This is it. I'm going to die in this stupid desert with this even stupider mummy jackass!_

Leah must have dozed off because the next thing she knew, she was slipping off the camel, heading towards the sand, her mind spinning, her breath coming in gasps.

"Hold on!" she heard a voice call out urgently from behind. "Hold on tight, Samir-hi! Do not let go!"

Leah shook her head groggily and realized what was happening. "Oh, crap!" she cried, grabbing onto the camel's neck as it ran wildly through the desert. Still, she continued falling. "Please, God, make it quick and painless," she prayed, scrunching her eyes closed tightly.

Suddenly, a pair of arms scooped her up. Through her feverish mind, she looked up into a pair of dark eyes, black tattoos dancing in front of her baby blues. "Thank god you're here," she said breathlessly. "Thank god, thank god."

"You are safe now, Bent Hair," Ardeth said as he pulled her atop his horse.

"Thank you. Thank you," Leah whispered through cracked lips. She clung with all of her might to Ardeth's broad chest as his horse raced across the desert sand, towards nowhere. She sucked in a deep breath and the scent of the man holding onto her. He smelled clean, of soap, and of… she couldn't quite place the second smell. _Wood chips. Pine trees_, she thought. _Except there aren't pine trees in Egypt, so why would he smell like them? _She heard his heart beating strongly in her ear, felt the soft wool of his robe on her cheek, saw his muscular chest rising and falling with every breath he took. _What a hunk_, she thought. "Ardeth?" she asked softly.

"Yes, Bent Hair?" the Medjai asked of his damsel in distress.

Leah began to cling even harder to her knight in shining armor as she began to feel herself slipping off the horse. "Arhoseth… I mean, Ardeth… I love you," she mumbled, her hands losing their grip on their anchor. She squinted her eyes shut as her mind tumbled off into oblivion, her body

plummeting to the ground, Ardeth disappearing as she stumbled back to reality.

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"Mum, I'm hot," Alex whined.

"Me too," Jonathan agreed. "I say we stop for a rest."

"No!" called Rick from the front of the pack. "We can't! We have to catch up to Leah. We can't stop because we'll lose too much time!"

Jonathan grumbled a bit to himself, but didn't say anything.

The crew was riding their camels single file through the desert, a couple of hours outside of Thebes, still about eight hours from Rathshad. The heat was almost unbearable, and there were still several hours left until high noon, the hottest part of the day.

_Imagine how Leah must feel_, Rick thought to himself. _Stuck with some idiot who claims to be her father, who kidnapped her from her hotel room in the middle of the night. And now she's out here baking in this heat. She could be sick or hurt or… well, not cold, but she could be really hot, and I'm not there to help her! _Rick urged his camel on faster, anxious to catch up to his sister.

Evelyn rode silently behind her husband, watching his desperation. She shook her head to herself, wondering how she could help. She remembered the last time they had battled Imhotep, when Rick's friend Izzy had proven himself to be more than useful. _What we need is Izzy_, she thought to herself. _Where is he when you need him?_

Alex and Jonathan followed Rick and Evelyn, each one of them sitting high atop their own camels. Jonathan was bright red, his skin sunburned, as he had forgotten to apply sunscreen. (A/N: I don't know if they actually had sunscreen in the 1930's, but just pretend that they did!). Alex's blond hair was plastered to his forehead as sweat streamed down his face. Neither were being very talkative, they were too busy being hot to open their mouths.

Meanwhile, Ardeth brought up the rear of the group, riding behind Jonathan and Alex on his horse. His heart was heavy, and he was also quiet as he bounced over his mount's withers. He, too, was feelings the effects of the heat, but it did not bother him as much as the thoughts that were on his mind. He was as worried about Leah as Rick was, although he didn't know why. _Rick has known Miss Leah as long as she's been alive. It is only natural for him to worry himself like he is. I have known Leah two days, and while I should worry for Leah like I would any other person, why is my entire life suddenly revolving around her? _In his heart of hearts, he knew the reason, that he was slowly falling for the little out-going, tough girl, but he wouldn't admit it to his mind. Instead, as he followed the caravan, he continued searching his brain for the answer to his feelings.

Everybody was hot and tired, and Rick knew it. After another half hour of plodding along, he heard Ardeth call out from behind that his horse needed a rest. With very little protesting, Rick stopped his camel and climbed off, unloading a large bag as Evelyn parked her camel next to Rick's.

The family, minus Leah, gathered around in a circle using the four camels and the horse as shade from the desert sun. Jonathan, who was now as red as a lobster, poured his entire canteen of water over himself and curled up on a blanket to take a nap. As he settled into position, his camel put its head down to Jonathan and licked some of the water off his face.

"Oh, disgusting," Jonathan muttered as he pushed the large tan muzzle away.

"Enjoy it while you can, Uncle Jon," Alex laughed as he spread his own blanket over the sand near Jonathan. "That may be the only kiss you ever get."

Jonathan glared at his nephew, pulling his hat over his sunburned face and turning to face the other direction.

Alex just shrugged and settled onto his bedding.

"Rick, you should try to eat something," Evelyn was saying a few feet away, digging through a small bag. "I've got some fruit here and—"

"I'm not hungry, Evelyn," Rick said as he hoisted down another bag from atop his camel.

"But you've got to eat _something_," Evelyn argued, coming up behind Rick. "Just a little something, it doesn't have to be big. You need your stength!"

Rick stopped moving, his back to his wife. He closed his eyes for a second, and then reopened them and turned to face Evelyn. "Evelyn, I just can't eat now, not when Leah is out there with that… whatever he is. If she doesn't eat, then I don't eat." Rick look pointedly at Evelyn, then walked around her, towards where Ardeth was holding his canteen up to his horse's mouth, allowing the animal to drink. "How long do you need to rest?" Rick asked as he approached Ardeth.

"Not long. My horse just needs some water and a little air, and we can be on our way again," Ardeth said.

Rick nodded, showing that he understood, and continued on with his bag.

While Jonathan and Alex slept, Rick holed himself up in a corner of the shaded area. When Evelyn came near him, he shrugged her off, too absorbed in his problems.

Evelyn knew that Rick would come around eventually, so she left him alone and made her way over to where Ardeth was, having left his horse to sit on the ground, resting.

"Ardeth, do you mind if I join you?" Evelyn asked as she drew to a stop in front of him, tugging a small bag with her.

"Of course not," Ardeth said, motioning to the ground next to him.

Evelyn smiled as she settled on the sand, reveling in the shade that the animals created. "So how are you holding up?" Evie asked the Medjai.

Ardeth looked up, taken aback, but he answered steadily. "I am fine," he told Evelyn. "I am used to the heat, it does not bother me as much as it bothers the others."

"Uh huh," said Evelyn, looking at Ardeth intently, knowing what was on his mind without him having to say it. "Really."

"Yes, really," Ardeth responded. He looked down to the gun he was shining, not able to make eye contact with Evelyn.

"I see," Evelyn said. "So… uh…" Evelyn stuttered as she wondered how to approach the subject she was trying to get at. Finally, she just decided to come right out and say it. "Ardeth, I've been meaning to ask you… how do you feel about Leah?"

Ardeth jerked his head up and looked at Evelyn suspiciously. "What do you mean, how do I feel about her?"

Evelyn reached out and patted Ardeth's hand, which had stopped shining the gun and was just sitting on the butt of it. "You can tell me, Ardeth."

"Leah is a good girl. She is kind, she is strong, and she is beauti--" Ardeth stopped, mid-word, realizing what he had almost blurted out.

"You think she's beautiful?" asked Evelyn, a smile forming on her lips.

Ardeth looked down at his gun, then back up at Evelyn, knowing he was beat. "Yes," he admitted. "Leah is quite beautiful."

"So I take it that you are smitten with her?" Evelyn asked.

"No, I am not smitten with Leah," Ardeth said, knowing the words were wrong as soon as he said them. However, he did not want Evelyn to know that.

"Oh," Evelyn said. "Well, I remember when Rick and I first met. I couldn't stand him, and he couldn't stand me. We hated each other. And, well, just look at us now." Evelyn gestured around her, to the sleeping Alex, and then to Rick, who had his back to them, lost in thought. Evelyn thought of how he had shrugged her off earlier. "Okay, bad example," she said. "But still, Ardeth. I think you and Leah are star-crossed lovers."

Ardeth looked at Evelyn, confused. "Star-crossed lovers? I do not understand."

"You and Leah are meant to be together, Ardeth," Evelyn explained. "You love her, and I'm sure that Leah loves you too. You two have been together through the ages… do you remember Samir-hi's body guard, Arhoseth?" Evelyn reached into the bag next to her, pulling out a book that she had sneaked along on their trip. She opened it up to the picture of Samir-hi/Leah, and then turned it to the next page. There was a full-paged painting of Arhoseth, who was the spitting image of Ardeth.

Ardeth nodded, knowing full well that he was Arhoseth reincarnated. And he knew what that meant about his feelings for Leah. Though in this life he had known her for just a couple of days, in actuality, he had known her for thousands of years, and that was why he felt as he did for her.

"Just as I was Nefirtiri, Leah is Samir-hi. And just as Rick was a Medjai who protected me all of those years ago, so are you a Medjai who protected Leah. You protected her then, and you are protecting her now."

Ardeth pursed his lips, his heart breaking. "I did not protect her in this life," Ardeth said dejectedly. "I betrayed her by allowing her to be kidnapped by Imhotep."

Evelyn squeezed Ardeth's hand. "No! That's not true! Sure, she was kidnapped, but we'll get her back! We'll rescue her! You love her, remember? And I'm sure that she loves you. And when two lovers are parted, they always find their way back together. Do you understand me, Ardeth?"

Ardeth was about to answer when suddenly, a raquet was heard overhead. Evelyn and Ardeth both stood up quickly, as did Rick from a few yards away. Jonathan and Alex both woke and sat up, shielding their eyes as they looked to the sky.

Evelyn, Ardeth, and Rick gathered around Jonathan and Alex. The five of them continued to stare as suddenly, the object stalled and began falling to the ground, right towards the make-shift camp.

"What _is_ that?" Alex asked as they took in the dark object falling through the air.

"Well, I would say that's what's going to rescue us," Rick started, "except that it's not."

"Then what is it?" Alex asked again as the plane continued to fall, just a couple hundred yards away from them.

Rick shook his head, half laughing, half groaning as the airplane hit the ground with a _crash_, sending a wall of sand in all directions. "Izzy," he harumphed.


	9. I'm Going to Get Shot, Aren't I?

Hello, everybody! Welcome to chapter 9! I know many of you have been anticipating this chapter, and so I will hold you in suspense no longer and give you what you all want. To all of my reviewers, your kind words really mean a LOT to me! Even to those of you who have read this and haven't reviewed (which I KNOW there has to be some of you out there!), I still owe you all a big thank you for even giving my story the time of day! EVERYONE that has reviewed and EVERYONE who hasn't is great! Which is why I feel the need to respond to each of you individually this time. So here it goes!

Lilylynn (a.k.a. my mummy mate/my dearest Mrs. O'Connell): You are my #1 fan, and every time I write a new chapter, I always think of you. Sorry if I made you blush, I hope you weren't too embarrassed! Lol! And I'm sure, some day, you will be right next to Rachel. I have no doubt! And then I can say that I knew you when. Glad you liked the last chapter, I hope you like this one too! I know, dumb old Izzy, screwing everything up. But don't worry, Ardeth will eventually answer Evelyn's question. You're right, I wouldn't dare stop after chapter 8! You know me better than that! Thanks for being such an encouragement to me! You're so awesome! Thanks a million!

Cindy: Thanks for both of your reviews! I'm really glad to know that you like this story. Yes, I know, sorry for fooling you, but I just hope you're not mad at me! Lol! I am quite tricky, or so I've been told. Glad you are liking this story, I hope you like this chapter! Thanks again for your kind words!

Lea: Hi, Lea! I LOOOOVE your name! Do you say it like Lay-ah like Princess Leia from Star Wars or like Lee-ah? My character Leah's name is pronounced Lee-ah, at least in my head it is! I love the name Leah. I want two kids after I get married, if I have two girls then their names will be Kaitlynn and Leah! Leah is an awesome name! Wow, I feel special that you picked my story to be the first mummy fic you've ever read! That makes me feel good! You really think I write well?? Well, thanks! Sometimes I'm not so sure, but you and Lilylynn are convinced, so I'll take your word for it (oh, boy, I hope that doesn't sound conceited, cuz I'm totally not!). Anyways, please Please PLEASE enjoy this chapter, and look for more soon!

Marlee: Hey, it's okay that you didn't review earlier. At least you did review! Your begging has worked, because here is chapter 9! And there will be a chapter 10, and a chapter 11, and 12, until I get to the end of the story, so have no fear, I will always update for you! Thanks for reading, and thanks for reviewing!

Empathy Is Me: You are totally awesome! You have been reading and reviewing my story from the beginning, and I really appreciate you sticking with me on this! It's always good to know that I have regular readers! That's all right for not reviewing earlier, that happens to me all the time when I want to review people's stuff and I can't get logged in! It drives me bananas!! And you're quite welcome for the reviews of your story! It's the least I could do since you've reviewed mine. It also helps that your story is HILARIOUS!! I love it!! I've always wanted to write a parody, but I don't have a very good sense of humor so it would never work for me. But you are so good at it! Anyways, thanks again for all of your words of encouragement, and I really hope you like this chapter! Look for more, because this story is nowhere near finished!

Okay, that's it for the reviewers. Wow, that was longer than I thought it would be! For those of you that have actually gotten to this point, just a reminder that I'm still looking for alternate titles for the story! Like I said before, this is just a working title, so if ANYBODY has an idea for a better title, PLEASE PLEASE I'M BEGGING YOU, let me know! And if it's a title that I pick, I'll give you credit for it, too! And if anybody has something that they'd like to see happen, don't hesitate to let me know. Okay, I think that's it for housekeeping issues, so on with the story!

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_Chapter 9 I'm Going to Get Shot, Aren't I?_

The first thing she felt was cool water on her cheeks. Her first thought was of how thirsty she was, and the first thing she heard was a deep voice shouting horrific comments at somebody in Egyptian. She struggled to open her eyes, and when she finally succeeded, she realized that she was lying on the ground of the desert, covered in blankets. Though the day was boiling hot, she was shivering like a leaf under the layers. Every breath she took felt like it ripped her chest in two as her lungs struggled to provide enough air for her body.

"Do not drink the water!" the awful mummy voice was shouting. "You must not drink any of it, it is all for Samir-hi!"

"But sir—"

"Do you _dare_ to question me?" the angry voice shouted.

Leah turned her head in time to see Imhotep lift his hands up into the air, ready to perform some of his horrible magic on the man who had spoken out of turn. She gasped weakly, appalled at how quickly Imhotep had turned to violence. "No!" she said as loudly as she could, her voice scratchy. "Please, do not hurt him!" When it was obvious that Imhotep had not heard her, she gathered her reserves and sat up, her head spinning, the dizziness almost unbearable as the cold compress fell off her forehead. "Stop!" she shouted, her lungs burning as she struggled to speak. She began to choke, her throat screaming for liquid.

Imhotep's hands fell to his sides, and his head turned to face Leah. "Samir-hi!" he said, dashing the small distance to her pile of bedding, his loincloth bouncing lightly off his slightly burned thighs. He fell to the ground next to her and put his hand to her cheek. "Sam, what is wrong?"

"Water!" she coughed out. "I need… water!"

"Water!" roared Imhotep to his followers. "Water, now!" He placed his hand on Leah's back and began to gently rub her shoulders. When none of his men moved, he turned and glared at them. "Did I not make myself clear? I need water, now! And if no one obeys me, you all will suffer!"

If Leah hadn't been so busy choking, she would have protested to Imhotep's threat. Thankfully, every one of the dozen goons surrounding them moved quickly, and Imhotep had a cupful of water in his hands in less than ten seconds. He lifted the cup gently to Leah's lips, and she drank gratefully, the cool fluid soothing her diaphragm until the coughing ceased and she could breathe again. "Thank you," she uttered as her breath returned.

"Anything for you, Samir," Imhotep said as he stopped rubbing Leah's back.

Leah began to shiver, as her body raged with fever.

Imhotep took her shoulders in his hands and examined her. "Are you all right, my daughter?" he said.

Leah nodded her head, groaning as the world turned around her. "I am fine," she said. _I would be even better if you would just let me and the rest of the world alone and go back to your dark, cold grave, you stupid mummy jackass!_ she thought to herself. Immediately after she thought this, she felt bad as she realized that Imhotep's intentions for the world were not good, but that he really did care for her. _Correction: He cares for Samir-hi, not me_, she said in her head, but at this point, all she wanted was to lie back on the ground and go to sleep.

"Are you sure? You do not look well."

"Please, can I just lie down?" Leah asked in Egyptian so that Imhotep could understand her.

"Of course, daughter. We are quite close to Rathshad, but we will stop here for the night so that you may rest. We will continue on in the morning, so that we can complete the ritual tomorrow." Imhotep gently helped Leah settle back onto her bedding, pulling a blanket to her chin.

If Leah had had the energy, she would have made one of her smart comments now. But she was too tired and too weak to care, and Imhotep noticed this.

"You worry me, daughter," he said, but Leah didn't hear this as her eyes drifted shut and she fell into a feverish, nightmarish sleep.

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'But Da-ad, I'm too hot, I want to stay here!" Alex whined.

Rick stopped what he was doing and dropped the bundle that he was attempting to tie to his camel. "Alex, there's no buts in this! Don't you want your aunt Leah back?"

"Yes, I do, Dad, but--"

"I _said, _no buts, Alex. Now get your things together, we're going."

"But—yes, Dad," Alex said solemnly as his father glared at him. Alex shuffled off to gather his things.

Rick mumbled to himself about his son as he continued tying things onto his camel.

"Rick, take it easy on him," Evelyn said, coming up from behind with a bag of her own things to be put on the animal. "He's just a child."

"Just a child who should care more about his aunt Leah," Rick said as he struggled with some of the rope. He finally gave up, throwing the bag to the ground in disgust and forcing Evelyn to jump a few feet to the side to keep from being clobbered by it.

"Rick, what is wrong with you?" asked Evelyn indignantly, her hands on her hips. "Why are you snapping at everyone all of sudden?"

Rick turned angrily to face his wife. "I am snapping because no one seems to care about finding my sister but me!"

"That's not true, Rick, we all--"

"Save it, Evelyn," Rick said as he turned around to gather some more bags from their campsite, Evelyn following. "I know you don't understand how I could care so much about my sister, especially since she has just recently come into our lives. And you don't understand about the vow that I made to protect her." Rick stooped down to pick up a case full of clothing and then turned back around to face Evelyn, who was standing right on his heels. "I told her that I would always be there for her. And I wasn't. I hadn't been since she was seven years old, and when I finally had the opportunity, I allowed her to be kidnapped by our old friend Imhotep. I have to make it up to her. She has to know that she can always trust me. Now come on. We don't have any time to waste."

Evelyn threw her hands up into the air and marched off to help Alex with his things, giving up, at least for now, on talking some sense into her husband. She also wanted to get Leah back, but some how she didn't find it necessary to take her anger and fear out on the people around her.

Finally, the caravan was ready to go. Rick took the lead on his camel, pointing the crew in the opposite direction that they had been traveling earlier in the morning.

Alex caught sight of it first, about ten minutes later. "There, Dad! There it is!"

Rick looked back towards his son, then urged his camel on faster towards the crash site. He smiled to himself as the convoy approached. Pieces of wreckage were strewn over the tan sand of the desert, a piece of wing here, a rubber tire there. But what was making Rick smile was what, or shall we say, who, was standing in the middle of it all, a deployed parachute hanging on his back as he stared disgustedly at what used to be an airplane.

"Izzy," Rick said to himself happily. He stopped his camel and jumped to the ground, walking towards his old friend, his family doing the same.

Izzy didn't see Rick and company approaching him. Instead, he was too busy kicking a large box from the cockpit of his once plane away from him as he muttered to himself, his back to Rick, Evelyn, Alex, Jonathan, and Ardeth.

"Izzy!" Rick shouted when they were just a few yards from his friend. "Izzy! Boy, am I glad to see you!"

Izzy turned and looked up at the sound of his name. His eyes widened in horror as he saw who had called for him. "Ahhh!" he shrieked, and he turned right back around and began to run, his parachute billowing out behind him.

"Izzy!" Rick shouted again, breaking into a jog and tearing after poor Izzy. "Izzy, come back, I just want to talk to you!"

Evelyn grabbed Alex's shoulders, and the two of them plus Jonathan and Ardeth stopped following Rick and looked on from afar.

"No!" Izzy yelled over his shoulder as he ran. "No, I will _not_ talk to you, O'Connell!"

"Izzy, please!" Rick called, closing the gap between the two of them easily. "Izzy," Rick said, dodging a piece of metal in his path. "Izzy, I need your help!"

"Nooooo!" he shouted. "No, no, and no! Just go away!"

"And where would I go?" Rick asked as he got within a few feet of Izzy. "There's nowhere to go when you're in the middle of nowhere!"

"Just—just—ahhhh!" Izzy tumbled head over heels down a small dune.

"Bravo. Bravo, Izzy," Rick said as he stopped at the edge and looked down over the small ten feet drop to where Izzy was laying, sprawled out and tangled in his parachute. "What a tumble! When did you take up gymnastics?"

Izzy struggled to free himself from the material, but all he got was more tangled up. "Grr!" he growled. "Why don't you just shut up and help me?"

"Only if you help me," Rick told Izzy smoothly. "I'll help you if you help me."

Izzy muttered and rolled around in the dirt for a little longer, then gave up. "Fine! I'll help you, just get me out of here!"

"With pleasure," Rick said, and he jumped down the small dune easily, landing right next to Izzy. With one smooth swoop, Rick had Izzy freed from the parachute.

Immediately, Izzy began to crawl away from Rick as fast as he could.

"Where you goin', Izzy?" Rick asked in a singsong voice.

"Away!" Izzy said desperately.

"Away to where?" Rick asked as he easily caught up to Izzy and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "We had a deal, you know."

"Yeah, and the last time we had a deal, I got shot! I got shot in the ass!" Izzy shouted, trying to get away.

Rick gripped Izzy's shirt harder and pulled him to a standing position. "No, you did not get shot in the ass last time! Now, you made me a deal, and I expect you to hold up your end of the bargain. Are you going to help me, or not?"

Izzy was about to answer Rick with a big, fat 'no' when he caught sight of the handgun in Rick's hands. "S-sure," he stuttered. "But that doesn't mean I'm going to like it."

"Nobody asked you to like it," Rick said as he hauled Izzy over to the dune. "Now climb up."

"What?" asked Izzy in his British accent. "Climb up this _moutain_?"

"It is not a mountain! And if you don't start climbing, you _will_ get shot in the ass this time!" Rick waved the gun around in the air to reiterate his point.

Izzy started climbing, and Ardeth reached down from the top to give him a hand.

"Hello, old friend," Ardeth said as he pulled Izzy up to the top of the dune. "It is nice to see you. I hope you have been well."

Instead of returning Ardeth's greeting, Izzy just groaned. "Oh, no, not you, too," he said as he stood up and Ardeth knelt to help Rick. "We're not after the same idiot that we fought last time, are we?"

"Yes, as matter of fact, we are," Rick said as he mounted the dune and stood up himself. Rick looked out over the desert, surveying the wreckage.

"And who does he have this time?" Izzy asked, spotting Evelyn, Jonathan, and Alex standing with the camels several feet away. "You're family is all accounted for.

"It's my sister. He has her, and we want her back."

"Ah, well, I believe I can help, as long as--"

"As long as you don't get shot in the ass," Ardeth and Rick said together.

"What is it with this ass thing?" Ardeth asked in careful English. "What is an ass? Do I have an ass?" (A/N: Yes, you have an ass, Ardeth, and a mighty cute one at that! Sorry, readers, I just couldn't resist!)

Izzy and Rick looked at each other, and then Rick, who was now in a much better mood, thanks to the arrival of his old friend Izzy, clapped his arm around Ardeth's shoulders, and gave him a fierce pat on the arm. "We'll explain it to you later," he said, and then went back to surveying the crash site. "Well, Izzy, the damage doesn't look too severe," he said as he noted the nearly whole plane near where Alex, Jonathan, and Evelyn were still standing. "It looks like just minor damage… we need to get to the lost city of Rathshad. How long do you think until you can have her in flying condition? An hour? Two hours?"

"What? Have you gone _mad_?" Izzy asked. "To fix that plane up, it would take me days! Maybe even weeks!"

"Well, then, old buddy, old pal, your part of the bargain is to do days' worth of work in a few hours."

"But I—it's not—I mean—okay, okay," Izzy said, catching sight of Rick's gun. "Give me two hours."

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Meanwhile, Leah's eyes opened. She rolled over quickly and vomited up what was left in her stomach from the small breakfast she had eaten that morning before they had left Thebes.

"Oh, god," she groaned in English as she lay very still on her left side. "Oh, god, what is wrong with me?"

She squinted her eyes shut as dizziness occupied her brain. When she finally dared to open them, she saw that she was lying on a large blanket in the middle of the desert. The camel that she had ridden earlier that day was standing over her, creating a bit of shade from the sun that was sinking as dusk overcame the light, and in the distance, out of earshot, was Imhotep and his men, sitting around a campfire. Leah blinked her eyes lazily, then kicked off the blankets over her. She was no longer cold; she was now hotter than hell's fires.

As her legs moved quickly, her stomach heaved, and she vomited some more. "God! What is wrong with me?" she asked, near tears. She didn't know it then, but later, she found out that she was suffering from a few cracked ribs and a concussion, brought on by her leap of faith from her window in Thebes, and that thanks to those injuries, she was more susceptible to, and now suffering from, heat stroke, due to the extreme heat and lack of water. "Rick…" she whispered. "Ardeth?" Her heart ached as she thought of Ardeth. _I miss you_, she thought, hoping that he could some how, wherever he was, read her mind. _I miss you, and I hope you're okay_.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over her. When she looked up, she saw Imhotep standing over her.

"Samir-hi, my men told me that you are ill," he said as a trio of the Imhotep's ugly followers came up behind him.

Leah, still lying on her side, pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly, imagining that they were Ardeth, that he had found her and had rescued her. Her eyes closed slowly.

"Samir-hi," Imhotep said, and she felt the mummy's fingers on her pale, clammy skin. However, she was too sick to care any more. The only thoughts on her mind as she drifted off into unconscious were of Rick and Ardeth, swooping into their camp and carrying her off to safety. _Please hurry_, she thought. _I don't know how much longer I have left_.

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A/N: I'm not even going to say it! You all know what to do! Thanks a million, everyone, hope you all like this chapter!


	10. Till Death Do Us Part

Finally! An update to this story! I know, I know, it has taken me forever… you can blame that on my professors for loading me up with homework! Anyways, I have finally, FINALLY gotten my beautiful Dell laptop to take with me while I am away at college, so look for chapters to come a little more quickly than this one did!

As always, many thanks go out to my reviewers. I have five regular readers and reviewers, and I am so grateful to you guys, because if you didn't keep bugging me about updating my story, it would never get done! So thank you, Empathy Is Me, Lea, Marlee, Cindy, and of course, Lilylynn, my mummy mate. I'm glad you all like this story… for some reason all of you think it's some great piece of literature… and while I'm not sure I agree with that, I'm still happy that I can entertain you all. So, without further ado, present to all you an all-new chapter of _We Are Family_.

Chapter 10 'Till Death Do Us Part 

True to his word, Izzy had made the necessary repairs to his aircraft, and in two hours' time, Leah's rescue crew was ready to go.

"Will you meet us there?" Rick asked as he and his wife stood by the tiny three-seater plane.

"Of course," Evelyn told Rick, helping him shrug off his backpack so he could crawl into the plane.

Rick nodded, more to assure himself than to acknowledge Evelyn. He couldn't quite believe that he had to leave his family behind, at least for now, but he had to. His sister's life depended on it. Only he didn't know just how much it really did.

Ardeth went by just then, his arms full of different caliber guns.

"There's no room for all of these on here!" Izzy protested from the nose of the plane as he watched Ardeth deposit his cargo in the very last seat. "This craft can barely hold the three of us, let alone an entire magazine of guns and bullets!"

"So why don't you stay here?" Rick asked Izzy.

"But it's _my_ plane!" Izzy shouted. "And how do _you_ propose to fly it without _me_? The last I knew, O'Connell, you didn't know a propeller from a horse's ass!"

Rick glared at his old friend, then decided to ignore him and instead stepped up onto the runner surrounding the length of the airplane to get into the middle seat. He rubbed his hand across the silver steel of the machine's shell. His mind was filled with memories of Winston, his dear old friend who had actually given up his life in order to help Rick the first time they had battled Imhotep. "I will not lose anyone else to that bandaged bastard," Rick vowed. "I won't." He dropped his bag into the seat, then jumped down and came to rest by Evelyn. "Is everyone ready?"

"Yes, my friend," Ardeth said, appearing from the plane's tail. His arms held two large guns. "I am ready to rescue my beautiful Leah."

Evelyn glanced at Ardeth, surprised at his public confession of his thoughts, and then smiled happily. "You must be on your way," she said, laying her hand on Ardeth's arm. "Leah needs you right now."

Rick looked at Ardeth strangely, never before having realized that the Medjai warrior had been developing feelings for his beloved sister. He was bothered by this new fact, as every big brother is when a man likes his sister. However he knew that he needed Ardeth's help, and so he decided to deal with the situation later. "Let's go," he said stiffly as Evelyn's hand fell from Ardeth's arm. "Leah needed us yesterday."

Ardeth and Izzy jumped up into their seats while Rick gathered Evelyn in his arms. "You'll be okay, won't you?" he whispered as he nuzzled the top of Evelyn's head with his lips.

"When am I not?" Evelyn countered.

Suddenly, the pair was interrupted by a large crash from the direction of the camels a dozen yards away.

"Bloody animal!" Jonathan screeched.

Izzy, Ardeth, Rick, and Evelyn looked up to see Jonathan dangling in the air from the rope tied around his camel's neck.

"Uncle Jon!" Alex shouted from next to the camel. "Are you all right?"

"Bloody, atrocious ani—_mal_!" Jonathan shrieked out the last syllable two octaves higher than his normal voice as he tumbled to the ground and hit with a thud.

Rick shook his head in disgust at his brother-in-law. "Are you sure you'll be--"

"We'll be perfectly fine," Evie said, stepping back from their cozy embrace and placing her fingers to Rick's lips. "I love you. Now go find Leah and bring her back to us, safe and sound."

Rick nodded determinedly and placed a kiss on his wife's lips. "Take care of Alex. And… if anything should happen to me… tell him--"

"That you love him. And me. I know. But you'll be just fine, and so that won't be needed." Evelyn glanced up at Izzy and Ardeth waiting impatiently in their seats, Ardeth fiddling with a pair of flying goggles, attempting to determine exactly how to wear them. "You had better get going."

"Okay." Rick planed one last kiss on Evelyn's lips, waved towards Alex, and crawled up onto the runner. He settled into his seat as Evelyn stepped back. "Let's get going, Izzy!" he hollered up towards the pilot.

The engine started, the propellers whirred to life, and the plane lurched forward.

The quest for Leah's life had begun.

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Dusk had finally settled over the campsite. Everyone sat around a bonfire, drinking beer and telling stories. Everyone, that is, but Imhotep.

Imhotep had not left Leah's side since the late afternoon. He sat next to her, his knees pulled to his chest as he watched her life slowly fading away.

"I lost you once… I cannot lose you again," Imhotep whispered as he watched her still form. "Please, Samir-hi, I cannot bear to see you die again."

There was a stirring from the blanket as Leah's arm moved ever so slightly, as if reaching up to touch Imhotep's face. Then it stopped abruptly. She had succumbed to heat exhaustion, falling unconscious as fever raged through her body.

Imhotep drew in a breath at this one sign of life, waiting to see if she was going to come to. Then he let out a sigh, realizing that Leah's movement had probably been just a reflex. He pulled his knees from his chest and sat Indian-style on the rapidly cooling sand beneath him. He reached for Leah's wrist and held it as tightly as he could, as if by holding onto her, he could keep her from being dragged into death. "Sam, please. I need you."

Still no sound from Leah.

Imhotep took her hand and placed it on his heart. "Take life from me," he said slowly, almost chanting as he spoke these Egyptian words. "Allow my life to give life to you, Samir-hi." He waited impatiently as he looked for some type of sign that his spell was working. However, Leah still did not move, and Imhotep began to be filled with heavy, aching melancholy as he realized that his spells that resurrected broken souls from Hades did not work on mortals.

Imhotep watched her for a few minutes, saying nothing, just taking in the slow, shallow rising of Leah's chest as she breathed. Then he shook his head, and if there had been anyone who wasn't attending the ugly men's alcohol social, that person would have seen a faint glistening of tears in Imhotep's eyes.

Silently, Imhotep positioned himself so that he was lying on his side next to Leah in the sand. He wrapped his arm around her abdomen and pulled her close to him. "Please don't leave me, Samir-hi. You've got to survive long enough for us to reach Rathshad so I can remove your soul from this body and place it in your own body! Please, Samir-hi, you've got to hold on. I never got to be your father in our past lives, but I want to be your father now."

Imhotep caressed Leah's long red locks and chuckled a little to himself. "I remember when you were just a baby. When you were born, you had dark hair, and everybody thought that you were going to look just like your mother. Until you turned six months old." (A/N: I don't know if they actually had months back in the ancient times… I don't think they did, I think they used some form of moon phases to keep track of time. Moon phases generally run in one month cycles, so we're going to pretend that those moon cycles were called months, for sanity's sake!)

Imhotep continued. "You're hair turned bright red then. As red as that fire over there." The mummy motioned with his head to his drunken followers having the time of their lives as they danced around the campfire. "As red as it is now. And nobody understood why your hair was of that color. Red hair was not common in our society, and the few people who had it, under the rule of Seti I, were condemned to lives as slaves, because they were thought to have been possessed by Cerberus, the three-headed dog of Hades, sent to Earth by the god Pluto to tempt people to become evil-doers. But you were different. For some reason, the nation adored you. They all knew that you were special. Your red hair may have been different, but you, Samir-hi, had the heart of a lion, the demeanor of a lamb. You fought for what was right. You were kind to everyone, the poor, the lonely, the sick… you had all of the traits that many people fall short of having. You were you. My daughter, though you didn't know it then, and precious in not only the country's, but in my eyes as well." (Another A/N: The whole red haired people becoming slaves thing is made up… I don't believe that anything like that existed in ancient Egypt, but this fit in the story and explains a lot about why Samir-hi was so different from other princesses. Also, the whole Cerberus/Hades/Pluto thing is based on some type fact… however, all three belong to Greek mythology, and have nothing to do with Egyptians! Please don't hate me for combining a little Greek with Egyptian! This all fits very well into the story, and so I added it in.).

Leah was still silent, her mind swirling in unconsciousness.

"You're very special, Samir-hi… you mean so much to me, and to your people… and if you come back to me, I promise you that we will be happy together, the way we should have been all those years ago."

When he still received no response from the young lady lying still on the desert sand, Imhotep gave in. From the undead's eyes poured real tears, tears from deep within his immortal spirit, salt water that bared his entire soul, for all to see.

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Leah was aware of somebody talking to her in a foreign tongue. The sound was very loud and very muffled, and it was giving her a headache.

"Shut-_up_ already!" she growled. "Please, please, just shut your mouth before I shut it for you!" She reached her hand towards the sound, ready to punch the lights out of whoever it was that was driving her crazy. Then she stopped quickly, realizing that she couldn't see.

"Hey! What's the deal?" she asked out loud. "Who turned out the lights?" Leah moved her head around wildly, trying to figure out what was going on. Then the mumbling started up again so loud that Leah thought she was going to go deaf in two seconds flat. "Dear God!" she screamed over the din. "Please, make it _STOP_!"

And suddenly, it did. However, while it was completely silent where Leah was, it was still pitch black. _Am I blind or something?_ Leah asked herself. _Who knows about that? But I do know that I've got to get out of here_. And so Leah began to walk, not knowing where she was going, just hoping that she wasn't going to fall over a cliff.

Slowly, in the distance, Leah began to see a faint light flickering ahead of her. _Oh, thank God, at least I'm not blind_, Leah thought_. But what is that? Where the heck am I?_ Then she had a scary thought. _Am I dead?_ Leah remembered that if you weren't sure you were dreaming or dead, that you should pinch yourself, and if you feel it, then you are alive and conscious. So, she stopped walking, and pinched the skin on her right forearm. "Oh, crap," she said as she felt no nerves responding to the pressure. "I really _am_ dead! Oh, God, oh, God, oh, God!" She began to cry, afraid, and buried her face in her hands.

Suddenly, the light ahead of Leah began to grow larger and larger until the black void that she was in was filled to overflowing with luminosity. Leah could no longer pout as she felt an incredible warmth envelope her. She lifted her eyes and blinked several times, amazed at what was in front of her. Then she dropped her knees and began to worship the creature in front of her.

"No. Do not worship me," the being commanded. "Do not worship me!"

Leah looked up abruptly. "I-I'm sorry," she stuttered, her heart pounding in fear.

"Do not be afraid. I am going to help you, Leah. Take my hand. I am going to prepare you for what is to come."

Leah hesitated for a second, then took the outstretched hand of the white robed, radiant creature. "Are you an angel?" she asked as they began to walk.

"I am, and I am not," was the only answer Leah got.

As the pair walked, Leah no longer felt afraid. She suddenly began to feel happy with anticipation, as a young child anticipates a trip to the ice cream parlor. Something big was about to come, and Leah couldn't wait.

The angel led Leah deeper into the brightness until she could no longer see anything but white. She squinted her eyes shut, and just as she was about to cry out, the being at her side spoke.

"Be," was all it said.

When Leah opened her eyes, she found that she was alone again. Alone, surrounded by the color of tan. Lots of tan, moving quickly around her, until suddenly, it stopped.

In front of her were several camels and some weary travelers. Two of them were huddled together, deep in conversation. Leah took a closer look and realized that it was Evelyn and Ardeth.

"Evie! Ardeth! Hey!" Leah shouted excitedly. "Hey, I'm right here! Evelyn? Ardeth?" she asked, as they seemed to not hear her. She was quiet as she began to listen to their conversation.

_"Ardeth, I've been meaning to ask you… how do you feel about Leah?"_

_Ardeth jerked his head up and looked at Evelyn suspiciously. "What do you mean, how do I feel about her?"_

_Evelyn reached out and patted Ardeth's hand. "You can tell me, Ardeth."_

_"Leah is a good girl. She is kind, she is strong, and she is beauti--" Ardeth stopped, mid-word._

_"You think she's beautiful?" asked Evelyn, a smile forming on her lips._

_Ardeth looked down, then back up at Evelyn. "Yes," he admitted. "Leah is quite beautiful."_

Leah's heart skipped a beat as the scene faded out. _Oh, Ardeth, I miss you so!_ she thought. _I really do! You're beautiful yourself! _(A/N: Leah is absolutely right!).

Off in the distance, Leah spied a figure walking towards her. As it got closer, she recognized a beautiful young woman with flowing red curls. Leah's face glowed as she approached, and Leah uttered just one word. "Mom!"

Leah had never met her mother since her parents had died in a boating accident when she was just a baby. But she had seen pictures, and she had always felt that she was missing something in her life until that moment. She stepped forward and reached out a hand to touch her mother. "Oh, Mom," she said, until she felt her hand hit something hard. It was as if she had hit a wall of glass. Moving her hand again, she found that she was still barricaded, separated from her mother. "Mom, what's happening?" Leah asked, frightened, as she began to feel pressure on her shoulders, as if she was diving in the deep waters of the ocean and was feeling the surface pressure changing around her. She tried once again to reach Mrs. O'Connell, and as she hit the glass, it shattered to pieces.

Ari O'Connell spoke. "Leah. My baby. Go back. It is not your time. Go back."

"No! I don't want to go! I want to stay here! With you!" Leah said.

"You cannot stay. He needs you. He loves you," Ari said. She turned and gestured behind. "He cannot live without you."

Leah watched what her mother was pointing too. It was a grave. A freshly filled-in grave, with a large headstone reading _Leah O'Connell_. And kneeling over it was Ardeth, grieving.

"Oh, Ardeth," Leah said. "Ardeth, don't cry over me!"

"He loves you, Leah. And he needs you," Leah's mother said. "You must go back to him."

"B-but—Mom, I want to stay with you!"

Ari shook her head. "No, Leah, your place is on Earth. With him. With your brother and his family." Ari gestured again behind her, and Leah saw Rick, Evelyn, Alex, and Jonathan joining Ardeth by the grave, all of them crying.

Leah's heart was torn. She had lived so many years without her mother, that all she wanted now was to be with her. Just as she was about to make her decision, Ari O'Connell faded from Leah's sight, and Leah was surrounded by darkness.

Before she even had time to react, her life flashed before her eyes. There she was at the orphanage in Cairo. There she was on the ship to America. There she was with her aunt in New York City. There she was on a ship back to Egypt. There she was running into Rick's arms, hugging him, meeting his family. And there she was, with Ardeth. Where she belonged. They had lived many, many lives together. And Leah knew that her mother was right. Her place was with Ardeth. She watched as she and Ardeth, she dressed all in white and Ardeth dressed in his velvet black robes, standing in a large church in London, cathedral bells ringing, took their sacred wedding vows.

"Do you, Ardeth, take this woman, Leah, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to honor her and love her, 'till death do you part, as long as you both shall live?" asked the minister.

"I do," Ardeth said, looking deep into Leah's eyes.

"I do, too!" Leah cried out in her void. "I do, I do! I love him! I really do! Oh, Ardeth, I'm coming! Wait for me! I'll hold on for you!"

Leah felt herself falling, falling into a void. Then suddenly, she was moving upward, at a speed so great that Leah thought that her body was going to fly into pieces. Just as she thought that she couldn't take the pressure any more, she was shoved back into the darkness that was her earthly, unconscious body.

She was back. Now all she had to do was hold on, until Ardeth could find her.


	11. Love Conquers All

WOWWWW. That's all I have to say about the last month of my life. Who knew college could be so crazy??? Anyways, I have finally written chapter 11 of my story… many people have been begging me for it, and so here it is! Extra long, and extra sweet, if I do say so myself, although I might be just a little biased. I'm so sorry for taking so long to update… but school is a crazy place, as I'm sure most of you know from experience, and so you will have to forgive me for taking such a long time. I will try to do better next time, but I'm sorry in advance, just in case I can't.

Anyways… I want to thank each of my reviewers one by one, but before I do that, I would like to just say that I'm open for suggestions in this story! If any of you have any ideas for this story, let me know! I know what Lilylynn will have to say to that (wink wink, I love you so much, girl!), but if any of the rest of you have any ideas, let me know! Still looking for a better title too for this story… but that's a whole other issue.

I have the greatest reviewers! You guys rock!

Snowfire the Kitsune: Wow, you think this story has a lot of action? I'm glad you think so, action has always been the hardest part of a story for me to write. And don't worry, some day you will have your own mummy fic. You should be proud of all the stories you've published, it's a very long list! Anyways, I hope you think this chapter is as good as the others!

sassy lady: Glad you love it! Hope you continue to love it!

Cindy: I loved that scene too! I actually threw that scene in as an afterthought; it wasn't even part of the original chapter, but I've written stories before that have involved near death experiences, and I thought that was the perfect place for it. And guess what, your wait is over, and here is a brand new chapter for you to read!

Lea: Have I ever told you that I love your name? Lol! Thanks for the compliments about my story! I'm so glad you love reading this story; it makes me feel really good about myself, and believe me, I need some uplifting right now, since I'm struggling so much with school and work and everything. Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the others!

SandraSmit19: Thanks so much for reviewing! I love new reviewers, because I love hearing that I'm still getting new readers! I am definitely planning to continue this story, I promise! And when I make promises, I always keep them, although they might take me awhile!

Empathy Is Me: You rock! You're so awesome! I was very worried about your sanity after reading your last review of my story. I thought, wow, if my story is making somebody that crazy, I wonder what I could do if I became president or something! Anyways, thanks for being one of my regular reviewers; I love hearing what you have to say, and I love reading your story about The Mummy! I love you, you are totally awesome!

And, of course, Lilylynn: How could I forget you, mummy mate? You are one of the huge reasons that I want to continue writing, even with all of the craziness at school. I love opening my inbox and finding an e-mail from you; and I know it takes me awhile sometimes to get back to you, but I would never forget you, and I would never forget about Leah and Ardeth and everyone, because I know that my story makes you happy. I'm so glad that you are so patient with me, and I'm so glad I have my mummy mate! I love you, girl, you have no idea how glad I am to know you! This chapter is for all of my reviewers and friends out there, but it is especially for you. Hope this makes up for how long you've had to wait for it!

Thanks to all my reviewers! You guys are so awesome! Thanks for sticking with me on this; as long as you all stick with me, I'll stick with you! Now, on with the show!

_Chapter 11_ _Love__ Conquers All_

She was tired, but she rode on. Evelyn O'Connell was a woman with a mission, and those who knew her best knew not to mess with her when she was in this state of mind. Jonathan and Alex were no exception to this, and so they stayed back from her, following along, their eyes barely staying opening.

"We need to get her back," Alex said suddenly as his animal plodded along.

"Wha--?" asked Jonathan, jerking himself from sleep's door and nearly falling off his camel as he did.

"Uncle Jon," Alex whispered through the dark of the night to his uncle riding next to him. "What if—what if it is too late for Aunt Leah?"

Jonathan, who was still half asleep, reached his hand to his pocket and felt the whiskey bottle that he had deposited there before they had left Thebes that morning. He pulled it out and took a sip, shaking his head as the liquid coursed down his throat.

"Uncle Jon, stop drinking! This is serious!" Alex complained.

Jonathan groaned a little in protest, but reluctantly put the bottle away.

"Uncle Jon, what if it is too late for Leah? What if Imhotep has hurt her? What if…" Alex gulped, not able to say it, too afraid for his beloved aunt to actually utter the words he was thinking.

And Jonathan, though not a sensitive or caring guy, felt his heart do a strange dance as he saw the worried look on his nephew's face. He, too, was worried about Leah, though he would never admit it. He instead just shrugged his shoulders and reached over to touch Alex, nudging his camel closer so that he could reach him. "Alex, I believe you're underestimating your aunt Leah."

"What do you mean?" asked Alex.

"Well, when has your aunt ever let anyone… or any_thing _get the best of her?" Jonathan asked.

Alex thought for a moment, then conceded, "Never. Unless you count the time that Dad bet her that she couldn't drive his car without stalling it out less than ten times and she lost. Or the time that she tried to bake a cake for the ice cream social at the British museum, and the yeast exploded all over the kitchen. Or when she tried to build me a toy boat for my birthday, and instead of gluing the pieces together, she glued her hands together.

Or--"

"All right, all right, enough already," said Jonathan, a bit exasperated at how talkative he thought Alex had become. "So, aside from the fact that she can't drive a car, and she can't cook, and she can't build anything, when _else_ has she ever been defeated at?"

Alex thought again, then said, "Well, I guess nothing."

"Exactly. That's why I'm not worried." Jonathan, who was not very good at this fathering, or uncling thing, wasn't quite sure what else to say to Alex, who still did not look placated. "Look, ol' chap," he said, reaching his hand out to take Alex's. "We can't be sure if she is okay or not. But there is one thing we can do."

"What's that?" asked Alex, eager to hear what advice Jonathan could offer.

Jonathan, serious for what seemed like the first time in his life, said, "We could pray. Prayer is the only thing that can save Leah."

Alex considered this, and nodded his head. "You're right, Uncle Jon. Can we?"

Without hesitation, Jonathan agreed.

And under the stars and moonlit sky of the clear desert night, uncle and nephew bowed their heads, hoping that their prayers were meeting the ears of the Almighty, and would be granted, so that they might see Leah O'Connell's smiling face once again.

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Leah woke up with a gasp and sat up, her head spinning. She looked around her, taking in her surroundings. She was inside a tent now, alone, lying on a thick wool blanket. Her mouth was absolutely parched, and she was thankful to find a small canteen of water sitting next to her. She eagerly picked it up and drank, and was relieved that it actually stayed in her stomach where it belonged. Though she knew that there was still something seriously wrong with her body, she was feeling a little better. Her fever had broken, for now, anyway, and her mind was clear enough that she could actually think somewhat clearly. Clearly enough, in fact, that when she looked down at herself, all she could do was scream.

"Oh. My. God!" she shrieked. She couldn't believe it. While she had been out cold, her "father" had taken it upon himself to dress her up like his own personal Barbie doll. Instead of the cute pair of black slacks and the baby blue pajama top that she had been wearing earlier, she was dressed in a long, golden dress studded with blue beadsand woven with tiny golden plates. "Oh, my god!" she cried, her voice scratchy from lack of water as her head began to ache from the sudden noise that had come from her mouth. She ripped at the material, trying to take it off, not wanting any part of Imhotep's scheme to make her into someone that she wasn't. When she had finally pulled the dress off her body, she sat, nearly naked except for her undergarments, wondering where her real clothes were, and wondering if that even mattered, as she was probably going to die in less than twenty-four hours if she couldn't manage to escape.

She reached a hand up to her hair and cried out again. Tears tumbled from her eyes as the truth hit her; and though she knew she had other, more serious problems to worry about, she couldn't help but shed a few tears over this one.

Her beautiful, waist-length curls, which had been left to fly freely around her face and waist earlier in the day, were gone. Literally, they were no longer on her head. Her beautiful locks had been cut away and straightened, leaving a just below shoulder-length bob of straight red hair in their place.

She crumbled onto her blankets in the strange tent, crying her eyes out. She was separated from her family, kidnapped and held hostage in the middle of the desert, suffering from severe heat exhaustion, and all she wanted to do was cry over shorter hair.

Those flyaway curls had been the essence of Leah. She claimed that they were what made her so bold and outgoing. She had loved her hair; of all the things that Leah had though wrong with herself, her hair was one of those she thought right. Though not of a common color or texture, her hair was what set her apart from other people. The waves were the first things people noticed about her, especially males. Ardeth had been a prime example. Andrew was also the same way. Andrew had loved her hair; when she and Andrew had first met, after Andrew had quickly recovered from the impact of Leah into his body, the first thing he had said about was her hair.

Leah's heart clenched. Andrew. She hadn't though of him in so long. She had been distracted by another man, and for some reason, Leah felt guilty about this. _You aren't _with_ Andrew any more_, Leah chided herself. _Andrew cheated on you. He doesn't care about you. _Ardeth_ cares about you. _Leah began to sob even harder. What if she never saw Ardeth again?

"I love you so, Ardeth," Leah said between sobs as she laid on her side, salt water trickling from her eyes. "I just want to see you again… even if it's just to say good-bye…" Her eyes closed, the fever returning, her mind wallowing into oblivion.

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"Can't you make this thing quieter?" Rick yelled to Izzy over the whir of the engine. "They'll hear us coming, and we'll _never_ get Leah back with this noise!"

"Why, yes, of course I can make it quieter, all I have to do is just toss you overboard!" Izzy yelled back sarcastically from the front seat of the plane.

Rick kept his mouth shut as he sat on the edge of his seat. They had to be close to Rathshad; he knew that Imhotep and his men were not that far ahead of Rick and his family. He scanned the dark desert sand beneath him, his eyes searching for any sign of the lost city or his precious sister. "Do you see anything?" he yelled back to Ardeth.

"No, I do not see my Leah," Ardeth called back. "Do you see her?"

"No," Rick said, still thinking it strange that Ardeth had feelings for his little sister. Just as he was about to turn around and ask Ardeth about it, he heard Izzy yelling from the pilot's seat.

"Izzy! What do you see?" asked Rick, reaching up and grabbing his friend's shoulder.

"Camp! Straight ahead!" Izzy hollered, pointing to the ground.

Rick and Ardeth moved quickly to look over the righthand side of the plane. They both snapped into action when they saw what was below. Ardeth began gathering his guns, while Rick instructed Izzy to turn the plane around and land about a mile from the site so that the noise of the plane would not be conspicuous.

The wheels weren't even on the earth when Ardeth and Rick both hit the ground running, their weapons banging against their holsters.

"Hey! What do you want me to do?" Izzy yelled as he cut the engine, his voice loud as silence settled over the sand.

"Stay here," Rick said as he dashed back to the plane and reached into his seat to grab a gun that he had left behind. "Evelyn, Jonathan, and Alex will be arriving here by morning. Wait here for them." Then he turned and loped after Ardeth. They were going to rescue Leah if it was the last thing either of them ever did.

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Imhotep lay awake in his own tent, unable to sleep. This was not a big deal, as being the undead, he could function on no sleep, but Imhotep, even if he had wanted to sleep, could not find the peace of mind to allow himself to slip into slumber. He continued to worry about Samir-hi, wondering if she would survive the night to see tomorrow.

After he had cried at her side, he had asked his men to move her to a tent to remove her from the elements. While they did, Imhotep found himself by his camel, removing a package that he had hidden beneath his saddlebags. He had unpacked the beautiful gold studded gown that Princess Samir-hi had worn at one of Rathshad's kingdom balls, and ordered that his "daughter" be dressed in it, hoping that perhaps, by making her look like the Samir-hi that he remembered, it would somehow bring her back to him, the way he had known her. That is, if she ever became conscious.

When he had seen her in her dress, his heart (if the undead have hearts), swelled with pride. She looked every inch the princess that she had once been, albeit under false pretenses. Imhotep could scarcely believe how beautiful she looked, sleeping serenely, her fever looking as though it were gone.

And now, after bidding her good night, he laid. Clutched in his hand was a bead off her dress. He held it with a death grip, his mind swirling with thoughts of once again having his beloved daughter back with him. He wasn't sure if she knew the truth about her parentage, but he promised himself that when she was Samir-hi again, that he would make it known to her, no matter how much it hurt her.

Hurting her. That was the thought that was keeping him awake. He knew that she deserved to hear the truth; Samir-hi was, after all, Egypt's biggest advocate for honesty. However, he also knew that Samir-hi did not take betrayal lightly, and though Imhotep and Samir-hi's mother had never meant to deliberately hurt her, Samir-hi could certainly hold a grudge for a long time. _Forever_, thought Imhotep. _She could hate me forever. Can I handle that? Now that I have just found my baby girl, can I really handle having her hate me for eternity_?

Imhotep turned over in his bed covers, lost in thought. He was facing a dilemma now. There was no doubt in his mind that he wanted his Samir-hi back. But the problem was, could he continue living a lie with her that had lasted over thousands of years, or should he tell her the truth, no matter how badly it could destroy his relationship with his daughter?

As his mind whirled, he was oblivious to his surroundings, including anything that was going on outside the tent. He didn't know what he was going to do. And he also didn't know that two armed men were creeping into his camp, ready to attack.

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Rick glanced around the grouping of tents. Not a soul was in sight, but he knew that buried deep into the canvas walls was an army of men, ready to defeat him.

"Something is wrong," Ardeth whispered as he and Rick crouched behind the camp.

"You're right," Rick whispered back. "They wouldn't leave her unattended, not when they know that we are hot on their tail."

"Unless…" Ardeth trailed off, his tone saying it all.

Rick's face went pale as he pictured what he knew Ardeth was thinking. "No!" he whispered loudly. He looked around himself quickly, knowing that he could have busted their cover, then breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that they were still safe. "No. I refuse to believe it. My sister is alive, I know she is. We are not too late. We are going to rescue her, if it's the last thing I do."

Ardeth was about to agree wholeheartedly when they heard noise coming from the tents a hundred feet away.

"Shh," Rick said, grabbing Ardeth's shoulder and yanking a gun off his holster. "Look." He pointed.

A lanky, ugly manservant of Imhotep was lurking around camp. Leah's two men watched as he paced a little around the dwindling embers of a campfire, then checked over his shoulder before heading to the very last tent in the semicircle.

Nothing happened for a good while. Finally, when Rick and Ardeth were about ready to give up watching this tent and conclude that the drone had just turned in for the night, they heard a crash from inside the collapsible walls.

"Get away from me, you ugly bastard!" a voice wailed. "If you touch me, you'll die!"

Rick and Ardeth snapped to attention as they recognized the voice.

A bang sounded, and the two watched a canteen go sailing through the open door of the tent. "Let go! Let go!" Leah shrieked. "Please, don't do this!" She broke into loud sobs.

Her cries ripped Ardeth's heart into two pieces. Without even thinking twice, the normally level-headed Medjai had leapt to his feet and begun to run, Rick hot on his heels.

Meanwhile, the rest of camp had stumbled out of their respective quarters to see what all of the ruckus was about, weapons drawn.

"Leah!" Rick shouted, his voice deep, his tone showing his desperation, as he ran behind Ardeth, straight into the middle of the campsite. "Leah!"

Their cover blown, the two were suddenly aware as the army stopped moving towards Leah's tent and turned their attention to the intruders.

Ardeth and Rick halted in their tracks as they noticed the barrels turned on them. They stood back to back, staring as a dozen men circled them, their guns held high.

"Who do we have here?" one of the ugly men asked as he clicked the hammer of his weapon into place.

"I believe we have a couple of soon-to-be dead men," commented another of Imhotep's men.

"This ought to be fun," said another.

Ardeth and Rick, still standing back to back, began circling inside the ring of men.

"You don't have to do this," Rick told the men as their faces slowly swirled by in front of him. "Imhotep doesn't care about you. You don't have to do this."

"Yes, we do," said another ugly man, stepping forward and jabbing the barrel of his gun into Rick's neck. "And we are proud to do it."

"Proud, indeed," Ardeth said. "Pride goeth before the fall." He didn't even flinch when another of Imhotep's men shoved a barrel into his own neck.

"Shall we do it now?" asked a man with a scraggly beard. "Or shall we torture them for a bit?"

"Torture is the only option!" a loud growl erupted from behind the crowd in Egyptian. "Torture, and then death!"

The circle around Ardeth and Rick parted and Imhotep was seen walking towards them, his loincloth bouncing slightly against his bare legs (A/N: Go, loincloth! Go, go, go!!!!).

"Whoa, he's uglier than ever!" Rick whispered at Ardeth as they stopped turning, their back still to each other.

Imhotep's hands went up into the air, ready to perform some magic on his midnight visitors. A hush fell across the desert night as his men held their breaths, waiting for what was going to happen next.

The silence was broken when suddenly, a scream ripped across the site.

That was it. Totally in sync with each other, Rick and Ardeth snapped into action. In two moves simultaneous with each other, the two men had knocked the guns that were trained on their necks to the ground. Ardeth pushed his way through the crowd while Rick stayed behind, taking out one man after the other.

Imhotep stared in surprise at the spot where his prisoners had stood just a split second before, then turned and watched as Rick finished beating the last of his men to a pulp. He growled aloud and uttered something unintelligible, and suddenly, as Rick was wiping his hands on pants, proud of a job well done, his eyes widened.

"Great! Well, that's just freakin' great!" Rick said sarcastically as he watched a crew of mummy soldiers running across the sand towards him. "I thought we _killed_ all of you!" He reached into his holster, ready to fight to the death, if only his sister could be rescued.

Meanwhile, Ardeth had reached the tent that he knew Leah was in. She was still screaming her lungs out, and Ardeth began to yell a war cry as he ripped inside.

"Leave her alone, you bastard!" Ardeth shouted in his careful English, his tongue stumbling over the foreign words as he took in the ugly man trying to force a kiss onto an unwilling Leah's lips. With strength rivaling that of a superman, he yanked on the shirt of Leah's attacker and pulled him to his feet. "I said, leave her alone!" With that, he sent a well-aimed kick at Leah's perpetrator, and he bounced out the door.

Leah was still screaming, even though the threat was gone from her.

"Miss Leah," Ardeth said, quickly kneeling to her side. "Leah!"

She closed her mouth at the mention of her real name. It was the first in what seemed like ages that somebody had called her by something other than Samir-hi, and though she knew that her fever was slowly returning and that this could just be some kind of a hallucination, she felt her heart swell nonetheless. "Ardeth," she whispered softly, her fair lips stained with blood from the recent battle with Imhotep's slave. "Ardeth… is it really you?"

"It is I, Bent Hair," Ardeth whispered, taking her frail hand in his.

Leah's breathing became labored, whether from the illness that was ravaging her body or from excitement, she didn't know. All she knew was that he was here. "Ardeth… I knew you would come for me…" she said breathlessly. "I knew you would. I knew you would."

Ardeth's own heart was doing a dance inside his chest, and he also spoke breathlessly as he took in his love's pale face. He was so happy to have her back, but he knew that they were not out of the woods yet. "Leah, we must go. We must leave at once."

Leah nodded her head, her eyes swimming, straining to focus on her knight in shining armor as unconsciousness threatened her mind. Though Leah always prided herself in her ability to be strong and courageous on her own, this time, Leah didn't mind being rescued. She was happy to finally be out of her hellish nightmare and in the arms of her love.

With barely any sign of effort, Ardeth hoisted Leah into the air and carried her out of the tent, into the chilly night air of the desert. When his feet hit the sand outside the door, he began muttering in Arabic at what he saw.

Rick was battling at least a dozen of Imhotep's warrior mummies in the middle of the campsite while Imhotep stood aside and looked on, laughing. Rick was clearly outnumbered, and clearly having trouble defending himself all alone. He looked up just as Ardeth stepped out with Leah, and he began yelling. "Leah! Leah! Ardeth, run! Get her out of here!"

Ardeth, an honorable man who could never knowingly leave one of his men behind to die, stopped dead, his heart torn. _What should I do? I must save them both, I cannot allow either of them to die!_ he thought to himself.

"Run! Get out of here! Save yourself! Save Leah! _Just run_!" Rick shouted as he was slowly becoming overwhelmed by Imhotep's attacking mummies.

Ardeth knew it was decided then. He saw the desperation in Rick's eyes. In that split second, he understood the love that Rick felt for his sister, and understood that Rick would sacrifice everything, even his own life, to save a family member. And Ardeth felt the same way. Although he didn't know where to run to, he felt his legs begin to move deftly across the textured surface of the desert.

"Get out of here! Just run!" Rick yelled after them. "Take care of Leah! Take care of my family! Please--" Ardeth heard no more as Rick gave in, overtaken by the enemy.

A shout came from the direction of camp. "Samir-hi!" Imhotep roared.

Ardeth ran for all he was worth, away from camp, away from Imhotep, away from the men who had tried to hurt his beloved. When he was out of ear and eye shot of the camp, he estimated a good mile from the disaster scene, he heard Leah, who had slipped into unconsciouness, begin to moan.

"Leah," he said, barely winded from his trek. He stopped abruptly and gently laid her on the ground in front of him. "My Leah, are you okay?"

Leah didn't respond at first, and Ardeth began to worry. "Leah?" He examined her face urgently for any sign of life. He knew she was ill; that much he knew from the extreme heat that he had felt radiating off her body as he had carried her away from Imhotep. But he wanted to hear her voice, those tinkling tones that he had come to love.

Leah didn't say anything. Instead, huge alligator tears began to spill out of her eyes, and sobs erupted from deep within her soul.

"What is the matter?" asked Ardeth, alarmed. "Leah, please tell me, where does it hurt?"

"Every where," she mumbled through swollen lips. She tasted the blood on them and winced, the memories of her fight in the tent for the gift she had been saving her entire life for Ardeth, haunting her. "But that's not important. You must find me revolting."

"Why is it not important, my Leah? I want you to be well," said Ardeth, stroking her burning face with his cool hands. _Heat stroke_, he thought to himself. _She is not thinking clearly. She needs treatment. _"You are not revolting. You are beautiful, my Leah. My love."

Leah just began to cry harder. "My hair! My clothes! You hate it all!" she wailed.

Ardeth did not know why she was going on about trivial things such as hair and clothes when she was knocking at death's door, but it was only then that he noticed two things. First, he noticed that Leah's luxurious locks had been chopped off. And secondly, he noticed that she was barely clothed, stripped down to her undergarments. His eyes widened as he took it all in. And though shorter hair and no clothes was not something that was going to make Ardeth love Leah any less, he was still surprised at what was in front of him. Anger rose up in his throat as thoughts of what may have happened in the tent before he had reached it popped up in his head. "Leah… what did he do to you?" he asked, struggling to keep himself under control.

"He cut my hair!" Leah cried. "My beautiful hair! He cut it all off!"

"And… what else did he do?"

"He gave me this… this hideous _dress_! A dress, Ardeth! I _hate_ dresses, yet he dressed me in one… and it was so ugly… and it was Samir-hi's… and I'm not Samir-hi… I'm just me, Leah… it was so horrible… my hair… the dress… I took it off. It was ugly! Ardeth, I'm so sorry… please… I'm sorry…" Leah trailed off as she gasped for breath, her sobs ceasing.

Ardeth's heart stopped thudding in his chest as he realized that Leah's dignity was still in tact. However, he couldn't understand why she was apologizing to him. "What are you sorry for, Bent hair?" he whispered, leaning forward. "What have you got to be sorry for?" He touched his lips to her forehead and planted a kiss there, then backed up suddenly as his skin was met with a fiery inferno that was the fever taking over Leah's body.

"For all of this, Ardeth. I'm so sorry," Leah whispered as her eyes closed. "Please… promise me that you won't leave me?"

Ardeth was appalled at what he had just heard her stay. "Leah… I would never leave you," he whispered. "Never." He stroked a hand through her short curls. "I love you, Bent Hair."

"I love you, too," Leah breathed, and she gave into the darkness, slipping away to her own never-never land.

Ardeth laid on the ground beside her, his arms around her. Death was lurking around this desert; he sensed it, and he knew who it was after. "You will never have her," he whispered fiercely as he clung to Leah's burning body. "Never!" But as he spoke, he knew that he had no control over it. Warriors never show their weak sides; but that night, one Medjai warrior did just that. Ardeth Bay wept at his love's side, his heart breaking as he realized that he might just have to let her go and live the rest of his life without her.


	12. Promises, Promises

Wow. Almost two months since my last update. I feel so bad for keeping all of you hanging like that, but I'm sure most of you can sympathize with me on the whole school thing… this semester has been so hard for me as I handled 18 credit hours of work and two part time jobs. There was not much time left over for writing my story.

BUT……..

Thank God for Christmas break!! I wasn't sure how much longer I could keep writing papers and taking tests and trying to figure out the difference between do pentatonic scales and la pentatonic scales, and suddenly, it was time to clean my dorm room so I could GO HOME!! I have been out of class for 2 days now, and I am proud to present to you the latest addition to my story. So here it goes…

Oh, wait, I lied. I just want to say thank you to all my reviewers. Thanks to my regular reviewers, Snowfire the Kitsune, lea, cindy, Empathy Is Me (who is in the middle of writing a GREAT parody of _The Mummy_, which you should all check out because it is AWESOME!), and of course, my wonderful mummy mate, Lilylynn. And to my new reviewers… Avalon, Faerie Child, and Izzy… you guys rock! Stay tuned, Avalon, you will soon find out what is up with Rick. And yes Izzy, it is sooo annoying that a lot of Izzys are boys… actually, a story I wrote last year for my English class had a girl named Izzy in it… just thought I'd share that with you. Anyways, I won't hold you up any longer… here it is, chapter 12!!

_Chapter 12 Promises, Promises_

The desert sun was awakening. The sky was lightening; the air, warming. Though still dark, hints of day were peeking over the horizon.

The camels and one horse trudged through the sand, their eyes drooping, their hooves landing heavily on the ground as they moved their cargo over the land. One of them let out a snort, and his rider's head shot up, his eyes now wide open.

"What?" asked Jonathan with a shout, jerked from sleep. He looked around himself, spotting one camel to the side and one ahead of him, and suddenly remembered where he was and what was happening.

"Welcome back to the living, uncle Jon," said the tired voice from next to him.

"Oh, uh, thank you," Jonathan mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "Where are we?"

"Not far from Rathshad," spoke up Evelyn from ahead of them, Ardeth's horse following quietly along behind him. "We'll be there within the hour." Just as she said that, she yanked on the reins. "Whoa!" she yelled, and her camel and the horse came to a dead stop, grateful to stop moving.

"Jeez, Mum!" yelled Alex as he tried to stop his own camel before it crashed into his mother's. Jonathan tossed in a few obscenities, and Evie whirled around and gave her brother a sour look, until her curiosity got the better of her and she turned back to face ahead of her again.

"What is it, Mum?" asked Alex.

Evelyn pointed dead ahead towards the skyline, where the outline of a plane was visible.

Alex and Jonathan's eyes followed where she was pointing, and then all at once, they heeled their mounts, and the trio and one horse went galloping off towards the horizon.

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"Ardeth."

The whisper was like music to his ears. Pulling away from her, he looked into her delicate face and her baby blues, which were open, but barely. "Leah," he said to her, his voice husky. "You are awake."

Leah's head moved ever so slightly in a confirming nod.

Ardeth cupped her face in his hands, glad to see the color of her eyes instead of their pale lids. He stared into her features, his heart pounding.

"A-Ardeth," Leah breathed, reaching her arms upward and wrapping them around the Medjai's neck. "Ardeth, I never thought I'd see you again."

"And I, you, Bent Hair," Ardeth said, lifting Leah to a sitting position and clutching her tightly to his chest. He buried his face in her now shorter locks, taking in her scent, reveling in the feeling of having her in his arms. He felt that he would never let go; now that she was with him, he would protect her with his life, and never take his eyes off her.

The two sat cuddled on the ground for several minutes. Ardeth felt the heat radiating off her body, but noted that for now, her breathing was less labored and she seemed much more alert than earlier.

"Where are we?" Leah managed to ask softly.

"We are somewhere near Rathshad," Ardeth answered.

Leah moaned and closed her eyes, as if in pain.

"What? What is it?" asked Ardeth, his heart racing. "What is the matter?"

"Rathshad," Leah said. "I _hate_ that place. I just want to go home. Back to London. Where the hardest thing I had to do was figure out if A comes before B in the alphabet, and where I could have ice cream whenever I wanted it, and go ice skating whenever I had the urge…" Leah's eyes opened and she looked up at Ardeth. "Have you ever been ice skating?"

Ardeth, who was still worrying more about Leah's physical well-being, said, "Uh, no, I cannot say that I have." His hands roamed her abdomen, checking for any sign of internal injury.

"Ice skating is so much fun when you have somebody to go with you," Leah said, her words a little slurred. "I went almost every day last month. There's a little pond about a mile from my apartment… it froze over pretty early on in the winter. I took Rick with me one day. He had never ice skated before in his life." Leah gave a little laugh. "But I taught him. Or at least, I _tried _to teach him. Didn't work too well, but I had a blast laughing at him. Although, it was always the most fun when Andrew went with me." Her eyes narrowed. "Andrew. What a back-stabbing jerk. He just—ohhh!" cried Leah as tears stung her eyes. Ardeth's hands, which were probing the left side of stomach, had hit a horribly sore spot right below the left side of her rib cage. Her hands instinctively went to the source of the pain.

Ardeth moved back abruptly. "I am sorry, Leah," he said, his face etched with concern. His hands moved slowly back to her stomach and took her hands, which were still clutching her side. "Leah, please allow me to see. I must assess your injuries so I know how to care for you." Their eyes met, and Ardeth saw the trust in her eyes.

"Okay," Leah whispered.

"I will try not to hurt you," Ardeth told her, and he placed his hands on her skin.

They felt cool to her burning body, and now that she was aware of a man's hands on her, she felt a little self-conscious. However, she trusted Ardeth. He was a man of honor, a man of valor… a man whom she knew loved her, and she took comfort in that.

She whimpered a little when his hands found her swollen spleen, but did not move. "What is it, Ardeth?" she whispered.

"You're spleen has ruptured," Ardeth told Leah, slowly pulling his hands from her.

"Is that bad?" asked Leah softly, her eyes searching Ardeth's, though she knew the answer.

Ardeth, who was standing on his knees on the desert floor, rocked back so he was sitting on his ankles. "It is," Ardeth whispered. "You are bleeding on the inside."

Leah nodded. "I know. I read a book about it once." Her eyes closed as Ardeth took her hand. "I'll be fine, Ardeth, I just need some rest.

"No, Leah. You are more ill than that. We must find a hospital," Ardeth said, slipping his arms under Leah, preparing to pick her up.

Leah shook her head. "No. It's okay. We're at least a hundred miles from the nearest hospital, and I would never be able to walk that far, with my sprained ankle and all."

"I will carry you," Ardeth said.

"A hundred miles? No. You'd never make it, either. You are strong, but I do not think you are that strong."

"I will make it," Ardeth said fiercely, hoisting her up. "I _will_ make it. I must." He began to walk with Leah in his arms.

Leah felt herself slipping away again. She tried to shake off the wave of blackness attempting to overcome her senses, but it was of no use.

Ardeth felt her go limp in his arms. His heart thudding in his chest, he started his trek. He walked for what seemed like miles, until he looked up and breathed a sigh of relief. Their rescuers had arrived.

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Rick's head hurt. That was all he knew as he woke up. Then, as he opened his eyes, he was aware of a sharp prick on his neck. His eyes moved to look upwards, and he saw one of Imhotep's evil followers holding a sword to his neck, the Egyptian desert sunrise creating the backdrop of the scene.

"Get up," he growled, though Rick didn't understand it, as it was said in Arabic. "Up!"

Rick's hands began to move quickly to the direction of his holster, until he realized that they were tied tightly behind his back. He began to move them desperately, trying to free himself, but to no avail. "You stupid bastard! Untie me!" he screamed.

The captor just laughed in Rick's face and traced a faint outline with the sword on Rick's neck. "How quickly the tables can turn, my friend," he said, though the hostage didn't understand the language.

Rick felt the blood trickle down his neck, but didn't move. His lips remained in a tight, angry frown. "Kill me!" he yelled. "Kill me! I don't give a damn! Leah is safe, and that's all I care about! So _bring it on_!"

The ugly man didn't know what Rick had said, but he could read the tone, and became angry. He quickly drew the sword up and was almost ready to plunge it into Rick's heart when there was a roar behind the two.

Rick rolled his eyes to himself as Imhotep walked quickly to them.

Imhotep yelled something in Egyptian, and his follower dropped the sword and dashed away.

"Hello, mummy jackass," Rick said sarcastically. "How goes it today?"

Imhotep yelled something over his shoulder.

"Not very good, huh," Rick said. "Well, that's okay, it's bound to be a bad day when you're the undead and have no friends."

Imhotep knelt to Rick, who was still laying on the ground, his feet and hands tied. "Life is quite ironic, is it not?" He fingered the blood running down Rick's neck, which was now drying and sticking to his skin.

"Y-you called for me, sir?" a hesitant, shaky voice said from behind Imhotep.

"Yes," Imhotep said, not in Egyptian, but in Hebrew. "Translate to him." He pointed to Rick.

The translator stepped out from Imhotep's shadow. "Hello, O'Connell."

"Beni!" Rick gasped, his mouth hanging open.

"Bet you didn't think you'd ever be seeing me again," the little ugly man who had supposedly been killed by bugs, said.

"But you _died_!" Rick yelled.

"Yeah, and so did he… but obviously _he's_ alive," said Beni, jerking his thumb in Imhotep's direction.

Rick began to move again, trying to free himself, and then glared up at Imhotep and Beni as they stood above him, laughing their heads off. "You won't be laughing when my family and I put you in your grave _again_!" Rick shrieked, his anger spiking, his adrenaline running on high.

Beni quickly translated to Imhotep, and Imhotep roared with laughter. Raising his hands into the air, he levitated Rick's body half a dozen feet off the ground, then spun his hands in a circle, causing Rick to turn also. When Imhotep finally lowered his hands, Rick crashed to the ground with a hard thud, hitting his head on the desert floor. Imhotep spoke some words in Hebrew.

Rick's head ached even worse now, and his vision was swimming. Still, he knew he had to stay conscious if he was ever going to see his family again, so he forced himself to focus on a point in the dawn's horizon. "What did he say?" Rick barked at Beni.

"He said, 'I believe it is _I_ who will be putting _you_ in your grave,' " Beni told Rick.

Imhotep spoke again.

"Unless," Beni translated, "you hand over the princess."

"What princess?" Rick asked. "I don't know any princesses."

Beni just chuckled nervously and said something to Imhotep, who replied back in Hebrew. Rick's body tensed when he heard the name _Leah_ among all of Imhotep's unintelligible syllables.

"You know who he is talking about. Imhotep would like to arrange a trade. Your life, for the girl now known as Leah, who shall once again be known as Samir-hi."

"Never!" hissed Rick through clenched teeth. "_Never_!"

Imhotep, without even having to ask Beni to translate, knew what Rick had said, and he spoke to Beni.

"Lord Imhotep does not wish to hurt Leah. He only wishes to make her realize who she really is. He loves the princess as if she were his own, and he only wants what is best for her. He will agree to spare your life, if you agree to tell him where Leah is."

"I don't know where she is! And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you!" said Rick. "I would rather _die_ than betray my family!"

Beni relayed Rick's words to Imhotep, and then Imhotep answered, his tone becoming irritated. The mummy turned and stalked off, leaving Rick alone with Beni.

"Lord Imhotep does not wish to waste his time arguing with you. Since you will not cooperate, you will be making the journey with us to Rathshad. Hopefully, time will change your mind, and you will what we know is right." Beni turned on his heel and began to walk away. Then he stopped and turned back around, looking at Rick laying helplessly on the ground. He just laughed like it was the most hilarious thing he had ever seen, then turned back around and continued his walk after Imhotep.

"You _freak_!" cried Rick, pulling harder than ever against his restraints. "I'm going to kill you! Both of you! All of you!" He yanked one last time on the binds around his hands, and whistled happily when they came free. "Ah! Ah ha! Yes!" he yelled, sitting up and reaching to his feet to unbind his ankles.

He had nearly finished when he looked up to find himself face to face with six gun barrels pushed right up under his nose.

"I'm in trouble. I'm in deep trouble," he said right before the butt of one of the guns met his temple and the world swirled away to blackness.

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"Ardeth!" Evelyn called, jumping off her camel without giving it the halt command and dashing across the sand to where she saw Ardeth carrying her sister-in-law. "Leah!" She came to a dead stop as she reached them. "Oh, Leah," she whispered as she took in her minimal clothing, short hair, and blotchy, feverish skin.

Ardeth, who was walking, almost running towards the camels, didn't respond to Evelyn until he reached his destination. Evelyn sensed the urgency in the situation, and without hesitation, reached into one of her saddlebags for a blanket, which she stretched out on the ground next to her camel, who had stopped walking as soon as Evelyn had dismounted.

"She needs water," barked Ardeth in a voice that Evelyn had never heard him use as he lowered Leah to the ground.

Evelyn grabbed her canteen from a saddlebag and handed it to Ardeth, who took it and knelt next to Leah.

"What is wrong with her?" asked Jonathan, concern in his voice as he walked forward from the direction of his camel, which he had stopped right behind Evelyn's.

"Leah is suffering from heat stroke," Ardeth said as he ripped the hem of his robe and doused the bit of material with water from Evelyn's canteen. "She needs much water, and medical treatment that I cannot provide. She has ruptured her spleen." Ardeth laid the soaked material across Leah's burning forehead.

Evelyn's face turned white as Ardeth said this. "Oh, no," she said.

"What does that mean?" asked Jonathan.

"It means that if she does not get to a hospital, and soon, she will die," Evelyn said.

"Oh," was all Jonathan said, not sure how else to respond.

"Where's my husband?" asked Evelyn as she knelt by Ardeth.

"The creature has him," Ardeth answered, ripping more of his dark robes and dumping the rest of Evelyn's water on them. He placed a piece on Leah's chest, and then gently lifted her head and placed another on the back of her neck. "Her body temperature must be lowered, she must be cooled. I need more water."

"What do you mean, the creature has him?" asked Evelyn, her voice rising several decibels in level as fear set into her heart.

Ardeth continued working as he spoke. "When we found Leah, we were being attacked. Rick served as a diversion so I could get Leah out of their camp."

"What do you mean, a diversion?" asked Jonathan, also kneeling next to Leah.

"Rick was very brave. He was greatly outnumbered… at least a dozen men against him, and him alone." Ardeth stroked Leah's cropped hair.

"Where is my husband now?" asked Evelyn.

Ardeth did not answer.

"Ardeth. Where. Is. My. Husband. Now?" she asked, her voice soft, her tone deep and scared.

"I do not know," Ardeth answered. "But wherever the creature is, your husband will surely be."

"Rathshad," Evelyn said immediately. "They are taking him to Rathshad. And that is where we must go." She stood up and turned to her camel, throwing things into her saddlebag.

"Evelyn, we--" started Ardeth, but then he stopped when he felt something grab his wrist.

"Ardeth," Leah croaked, opening her eyes. She saw Jonathan sitting next to her and smiled weakly. "Jonathan! Oh, I never thought I'd be so glad to see you!" she said, reaching up with the last bit of strength she had to touch his face.

"Welcome back, ol' girl," said Jonathan, his heart soaring as he saw the young girl awake.

Leah continued to smile and slowly turned her head, gripping Ardeth's hand as tightly as she could. The cloth on her forehead slipped off, but she didn't notice as she caught of sight of Evelyn closing the last of her bags. "Evelyn. Oh, I'm glad to see you, too."

"Leah!" said Evelyn. Though she was desperate to find Rick, she was glad to see her sister-in-law conscious and speaking. She stopped what she was doing and went back to the group on the sand. "I'm so glad you're awake," she told Leah, placing a kiss on Rick's sister's cheek. She winced when she felt how hot her skin was, and felt guilty for wanting to press on to Rathshad when Leah was obviously not doing very well.

Leah just smiled again, and then looked around to either side. "Where's Rick? And Alex?" she asked.

Ardeth noticed for the first time that Alex was missing from the group. "Where is your son?" Ardeth asked Evelyn.

"He's with Izzy," Evelyn explained. "We met up with him a few hours ago, and I sent the two of them to Hamunaptra in Izzy's plane to find the Book of the Living, since Alex knows where it is because he was the last one to ever hold it. That is the only way we are going to stop him once and for all. They are going to meet us at Rathshad as soon as possible."

"Oh, no, Izzy and Alex? That is a bad combination," Leah said, attempting to laugh but failing, instead breaking into a series of coughs.

Ardeth's heart raced as he watched Leah's body spasm, not knowing what to do to help her.

When her coughing finally receded, Leah asked, "Where's my brother?"

Ardeth took her hand, realizing that she had not been conscious when Imhotep's men had overtaken Rick, and that he had not told her yet what had happened. "Well, my Bent Hair… the creature has taken your brother."

"What?" gasped Leah, her face paling a little under her flushed features. "What? Imhotep has my brother?" She attempted to sit up, and Ardeth and Jonathan quickly reached down and helped her. Her breaths came in small wheezes, but she continued to talk. "Wh-where are they taking him? We've _got _to get him back." Her eyes narrowed. "They took him when you were trying to rescue me, didn't they?" She looked up to Ardeth and looked square into his chocolate colored eyes. "_Didn't they_?"

Ardeth blinked his eyes slowly. "Yes."

"Oh, my god, this is all my fault! This whole _thing_ is all my fault! Every single thing!" Leah collapsed in sobs and wracking coughs, her whole body shaking.

"No! Bent Hair, no, this is not your fault," said Ardeth, trying to put his arms around her. She shook him off. "Leah, do not blame yourself for this. Please, Leah, you need to rest." He tried once more to put his arms around her, and she finally let him hold her, collapsing against his chest as the last of her energy was zapped from her. "We've got to find him," she hiccupped. "Ardeth, I need to find him."

"We will find him, don't worry, Leah," Evelyn told her sister-in-law. "We will find him. But you need to go to a hospital. You need treatment. Ardeth and I will continue on to Rathshad to find Rick. Jonathan will escort you back to Thebes."

"Nooooooooooo!" wailed Leah, clinging to Ardeth's robes even harder. "Nooo! I have been separated from my brother, I will not be separated from my love, too. Oh, Ardeth," she spit out between ragged breaths. She pulled her face out of his chest. "Please. Please do not make me go. Please. Please. Please," she cried. "I need to get my brother back. I can help! Just please don't leave me… you promised me you wouldn't!"

Ardeth sighed deeply, hugging his Leah to his chest with all his might. His mind was racing. He had promised her that he wouldn't leave her, and Medjai always keep their promises. But if they were going to get Rick back, then he needed to go on to Rathshad, and he couldn't in good conscience take a severely ill Leah into battle with him. "Leah, I…"

Leah looked up at him, her baby blues wide in hope and desperation. "Oh, Ardeth, please, you cannot make me go. I _must_ be with you. I cannot bear to be away from you. _Please_, Ardeth. Please. Please, you promised me…"

Against his better judgment, Ardeth gave in to his precious Leah's demands. He couldn't bear to be away from her either. "Yes, you may come with us, Leah. But if I decide that your health has deteriorated beyond your present condition, you and Jonathan will be heading to the nearest hospital."

"Deal," said Leah, and she let her head collapse back against Ardeth's robes. She clung to his thick sleeves with strength that Ardeth knew wasn't coming from her physical body, but from her strong spirit.

"We had better keep moving, then," said Evelyn.

"Are you sure she shouldn't go to the hospital?" asked Jonathan. "I would be more than glad to escort her back to Thebes, or wherever she wanted to go."

Nobody acknowledged Jonathan with an answer. Evelyn stood and turned to her camel, walking around the other side of it and returning with the reins to Ardeth's horse. Jonathan shut his mouth and wordlessly walked to his own mount.

Ardeth helped Leah stand on her good foot. She felt the world spinning as she stood upright, but she forced the feeling aside as she allowed Ardeth to help her mount onto his horse. She sat near the front of the saddle while the world swirled as Ardeth swung himself up behind her. He took the reins from Evelyn, and then, as he held onto them with his left hand, settled Leah against his chest, wrapping his arm firmly around her waist.

Evelyn jumped onto her camel, and taking the lead, she led the crew onward to Rathshad, praying the entire way for their safety, for the safety of her husband, and for the safety of Izzy and her son, who were also venturing into unsafe waters at Hamunaptra. "God be with us all," she whispered as the convoy moved forward. "We're going to need all the help we can get."


	13. Shutup, Izzy!

Okay, everyone, sorry about the wait on this chapter… college is hard work, and my major is probably the most difficult major in the entire school… so you can all imagine. Though my hard work is paying off… made dean's list last semester, and I'm pulling A's in all my classes this semester so far (except for Brass Class, because let's face it, clarinetists are not meant to play French horn!). I know this chapter is shorter than others, but I thought that I would rather just post what I have so that you at least have something to read, and when the semester is over, which is only 6 more weeks, post longer chapters.

As usual, thanks go out to my reviewers, new ones of benign and FalconWings14, you guys are awesome, and my regular reviewers, Snowfire the Kitsune, BlackEmpathy, and of course, my wonderful, totally awesome, soccer playing mummy mate, Lilylynn! I love you all! Anyways, a much longer chapter will come here in May, and I'm sure I will have much more to tell you all, and much more to add to Leah's saga… but until then, just think of this short chapter as something to hold you over until then. As usual, enjoy!

_Chapter 13_ _Shut-up, Izzy!_

"Bent Hair?" Ardeth whispered, his lips next to Leah's ear as they moved over the desert behind Evelyn and Jonathan.

"Yes?" she asked softly.

"Good, you are awake." Ardeth reached for his canteen, which was slung over the side of his horse, and held it in front of Leah with his free left hand. "You must drink," he told her, unwrapping his right hand from her waist and twisting off the cap.

Leah slowly shook her head. "No, thanks," she whispered, pushing herself deeper onto Ardeth's chest. "Just hold me. Don't let go."

"I will not let go. But you must drink. You need water," Ardeth whispered into her ear.

Leah giggled softly. "That tickles, Ardeth," she said.

"Yes, I know. Drink, please," Ardeth told Leah, holding the canteen to her lips.

Leah drew in a breath and sighed. "For you, Ardeth, I'll drink," she said quietly, and sat up and allowed the opening of the canteen to meet her lips. She sipped at the cool moisture, and although most of the water ended up on the front of the shirt that Evelyn had loaned to her instead of in her mouth, she at least tried to swallow some of it. She coughed a little, then settled back against Ardeth.

Ardeth was not pleased with the amount of water that Leah had managed to consume, but she was too tired and too weak to drink any more so he didn't press it. Instead, he put the canteen away and wrapped his arms firmly around Leah's waist.

"Thank you, Ardeth," Leah whispered, turning her head slightly so that she could see him. Though it hurt her neck, face, and what seemed like every other part of her body, she still managed to smile when she caught sight of his chocolate eyes looking back at her. "I love you," she whispered, and her eyes closed.

"I love you, Bent Hair," Ardeth whispered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rick awoke to find himself lying in the middle of the desert, his hands and feet still tied together. He struggled a bit to see if the restraints would budge, but of course they didn't, so he gave up and instead began to look around himself.

He hadn't been moved since the last time he was conscious. He did notice, however, that the tents of the camp had been collapsed, and that it looked as though they were getting ready to move on. _Who cares_? Rick thought to himself. _They don't have Leah, so who cares if they get to Rathshad?_ Rick seemed comforted by that thought, until something else occurred to him. _But if Evelyn finds out… she'll follow us there. And I can't have her involved with this guy again! Oh, this can't be good!_

Rick was about to attempt to free himself from his bonds when a shadow appeared over him. Looking up, Rick saw Beni standing over him.

"Well, well, well," said Beni, a cheesy smile on his face. "Look who's decided to join us."

"What do you want, Beni?" Rick muttered through clenched teeth.

"You know what I want," Beni told Rick. He got on his knees in the sand and sat down next to the prisoner.

"And you aren't going to get it," Rick said, venom in his voice.

"Well, then, I guess I'll have to kill you," Beni answered, standing and pulling a sword out from his belt.

"You and what army?" Rick asked. "You couldn't kill a flea!"

"I resent that!" Beni yelled. "I_ so_ resent that!" Still, he pocketed his sword and sat back on the ground.

Rick just rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you just tell me where the princess is? I mean, it would make your life a whole lot easier," Beni commented.

"Because I don't _know_ where Leah is! And she's not a princess, she's my sister!"

"Well, you have a pretty nice looking sister," Beni said with a knowing nod of his head.

Rick's eyes widened as he heard what his ex-friend was saying. Realization dawned on him. "It was you, wasn't it?" he asked. "It was you who was in that tent with her! You bastard!" Rick shrieked, a wave of adrenaline coming over him. He struggled with the restraints on his hands and feet.

Beni stood up quickly, a look of horror on his face as he observed the rage on Rick's face. But there was not any time to dwell on this.

Imhotep was striding quickly over to the two, a determined look on his face. As he reached them, he spoke to Beni.

Beni laughed. "He says he knows where your son is," he translated.

Rick had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. Though he didn't know that Evelyn and Jonathan had sent Alex with Izzy to Hamanaptra, he knew what Beni was getting at, and he didn't like it one bit. "Alex?" Rick questioned instead.

Beni nodded, an evil smile on his face. Imhotep spoke again, and Beni said, "Lord Imhotep insists that your son is getting in the way, and that if you do not cooperate with us, he will be forced to deal with the boy."

Rick's heart lurched. Even if he did know where Leah and Ardeth had escaped to, Beni was asking him to choose between two family members, both of whom he loved dearly. "Beni. Beni, I _told_ you, I don't know where Leah is. Seriously. Beni. Beni, look at me."

Beni's smile fell as he looked at Rick.

"Beni, if our friendship ever meant _anything_ to you, you'll believe me. Please. Please do not hurt my son. Please."

Beni's eyes narrowed as he looked into Rick's begging features. Rick saw the wheels turning in Beni's head, and he was sure that Beni was going to change his mind when Imhotep intervened.

The regenerated mummy, who had seen the exchange between Beni and Rick, knew what was going on between the two. He did not understand the language that they were speaking, but he knew. Taking a breath and raising his hands, Imhotep promptly dealt with the situation.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxxx

"Izzy! Izzy, look out!" Alex shouted, the wall of sand coming quickly towards them.

"I knew this was a bad idea!" Izzy yelled as the plane zigzagged every which way. "I knew I was going to die today!"

"I-I-I-I-zzy-y-y-y-y!" Alex had turned around to face the sand storm, and what he saw scared him more than he was willing to let on. An image of Imhotep's face was present in the center of the storm, with a look of pure evil on it.

Izzy glimpsed it, too. "Holy sh"

"Izzy, this is no time for swearing!" Alex called. "Just shut up and fly this stupid thing!"

They swerved in every direction as the wind whipped around the pair. The little plane was creaking and groaning under the stress, and suddenly, the engine gave out, and the contraption and the mismatched pair of aviators began plummeting to the ground.

"No! No! _Not again_!" cried Izzy. "No, don't give out on me ol' girl. Come on!"

Their descent continued.

"_Do_ something, Izzy!" cried Alex from behind his father's friend. "We're going to crash!"

Izzy nodded. "Okay! Okay!" He paused and crossed himself, then began to chant, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He maketh me lie down in"

"Izzy! Don't do _that_!"

"Then what should I do?" asked Izzy.

Alex never got to answer, for suddenly, the plane hit the ground nose first with a thud.

And as suddenly as the sand storm had started, it vanished. When the last cloud of sand had cleared, the plane could be seen on the desert floor, half of the propeller broken off, and one of the wings horribly bent. Its passengers were still strapped inside, one of them moaning the Psalm of David.

Alex, looking slightly dirty from all the sand, coughed a little to clear his lungs and looked around. Though his head hurt a little, he seemed none too worse for wear. "Izzy?" he asked, unbelting his seatbelt and leaning forward to get closer to the pilot. "Izzy, are you okay?"

Izzy continued chanting. "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil… evil… evil…" he groaned.

"Oh, good freakin' Lord," Alex muttered, standing unsteadily inside his little cubby of the plane. "Izzy, you're not dead, and you're not going to die anytime soon."

"Evil…" Izzy murmured. "For thou art with me. Evil… oh, god, have I been shot?"

Alex sighed and lifted himself out of the plane. He jumped to the ground and began to walk around, assessing the damage. Aside from the broken propeller and bent wing, the plane looked to be in tact. Though he wasn't sure if the engine would run, he knew that Izzy was a creative mechanic, and he could fix her up in no time. Alex headed away and stopped about twenty feet from the nose of the plane, searching the horizon for any signpost of where they were.

While Alex was searching, Izzy finally brought himself back to reality. He slowly pulled himself out of the pilot's seat and stood on the ground, taking in everything. Then he caught sight of the damage. "My plane! My beautiful plane!" Izzy said as he knelt at the nose of his contraption. He let his head fall forward until it hit with a _klunk_ on the metal of the broken propeller. "Ow," he muttered to himself, but he didn't move. "My poor, poor, beautiful Clementine…"

Alex turned to face Izzy, his hands on his hips. "You _named_ your _plane_?" he asked, his lips pursed indignantly, his head wagging from side to side.

"Yes!" shouted Izzy, lifting his head and turning quickly to face Alex. "Sea captains name their ships, knuckleheads like your father name their cars, and I name my plane!"

"Okay, okay," said Alex, letting his hands fall to his side. "Jeez!" He turned and shielded his eyes with his hands as he scanned the desert before him. After a few short seconds, he turned back to Izzy. "Well, the good news is, we seem to be within a short walk of Hamunaptra. The bad news is, we seem to be stranded here without a way back to Rathshad."

"I know! Poor Clementine!" said Izzy, still hugging the half of the propeller that was left of his plane.

"Izzy! Shut-up!" Alex said. "We don't have time for this! Listen to me!" He stepped forward, grabbing the tail of Izzy's white blouse and giving it a tug.

Izzy went tumbling through the air, and Alex wasn't far behind. When the two stopped rolling, Izzy let loose with a few choice words.

"Izzy! Izzy, get off me! And shut-up!" barked Alex as he laid squashed under Izzy's weight. He felt something sharp poke him in the leg. "Izzy, what's in your pocket, man?"

Izzy rolled off Alex quickly. "Nothing. There's nothing in my pocket," Izzy lamented.

"Right," said Alex, though he knew better. However, he didn't want to dwell on something so trivial. He and Izzy had a job to do. "How long will it take you to fix her?" Alex asked, standing and facing Izzy.

"What?" asked Izzy.

"The plane. Your darling Clementine. How long will it take you to fix her?"

"I can't fix her," Izzy said. "She needs a new propeller and"

"_Fix her_," said Alex. "Fix her as fast as you can. I've got to get to Hamanaptra to get the Book of the Living."

"But" started Izzy, at the same time that Alex said, "Izzy"

The two were silenced when they heard a roar in the distance. Both of them turned to face the direction of Hamanaptra, and their faces both fell as they saw several of Imhotep's soldiers coming towards them.

"Izzy?" asked Alex.

"Yes?" asked Izzy.

"Izzy, I think I'm going to get shot today," Alex said.


End file.
